MTU ENG 401 - A Critical Compression of Journals in Literary Theory

Unformatted text preview:

Eng. 40110/18/99 A Critical Compression of Journals in Literary Theory We all have opinions/Where do they come from? Each day seems like a natural fact/And what we think changes how we act “Why Theory” Gang of Four Any supposed summary of the journals in the field of literary theory will, by definition, be deficient. In his essay “Literary Theory” Jonathon Culler notes: “The most intimidating feature of theory in the 1980s and 1990s is that it is endless: an unbounded corpus of writing that is always augmented as the young and the restless, in critiques of the guiding conceptions of their elders, promote and exploit the possible contributions to theory of new thinkers and rediscover the work of older, neglected ones.” Indeed it is this aspect of theory that is most frustrating to those who howl at it’s hegemony; Herculean strides to knock the head off the amorphous beast seem to yield only a regenerated head for all that effort. I would submit that it’s this quality as living, moving corpus rather than dissectable corpse, which makes theory not only exciting but important. As a current (and often strategic) practice rather than an archive of knowledgetheory in it’s post structural phase moves to actively avoid concise definition and thus incorporates new disciplines into it’s already ameobic body even as it spreads into and suffuses others, blurring borders so that it becomes difficult if not impossible to delineatewhere literary theory leaves off and sociology or philosophy or philology or women’s studies or psychology begins. Which, of course, is part of the point. In the wake of an allpervasive dispersion this “summary” attempts to highlight what I found to be some of thebetter journals, but in now way purports to be anywhere close to inclusive, and would definitely not only suggest but vehemently exhort my writerly colleagues, in the spirit of post-structuralism, to explore independently of this “master” list. A final note in passing: all the journals cited expect the reader/researcher to be always already engaged in the critical dialogue. At no point do any of the articles stop to explainin any detail Derrida’s concept of differance or Lacan’s discussion of jouissance. Forewarned is forearmed. Textual Practice Textual Practice is a journal publication of the Routledge Publishing House. Routledge has for quite some time published both anthologies of essays and original full length works by a myriad of theorists, both celebrated and relatively unknown, in almost every conceivable paradigm. Accordingly, Textual Practice publishes articles without regard to any specific sociopolitical agenda, acting as a forum for critics of all paradigmatic persuasion. Early volumes of the journal exploited this potential hotbed with a wickedly fun “Letters” section in which academics and critics could respond to articles previously published or respond to a response. These responses were mostly restricted to a page or two unlike the lengthy and more rigorous “Critical Response” section in Critical Inquiry, which affords correspondents as much or as little space they require, more often then not taking the form of full articles. Unfortunately the editors ofTextual Practice discontinued the “Letters” section as of 1993. Textual Practice, unlike Diacritics, contains no editorial statement letting instead the diversity and acuity of it’s articles make manifest it’s manifesto. A quick perusal journals from several different years reveals an editorial decision to remain both current and timely. The volumes from the early to mid eighties focused more often than not on deconstruction and gender and queer theory, which were all in critical vogue at the time. An exemplary article from this era is Frederick Stern’s “Derrida, De Man, despair: reading Derrida on De Man’s 1940’sessays” in which the author deconstructs Derrida’s own deconstruction of his friend Paul de Man’s antisemtic letters of the 1940’s. In keeping with a penchant for the new and thenow recent issues have increasingly devoted attention and space to post colonial studies. Each issue usually includes at least one article which uses a literary text as a basis of discussion. However these articles always focus on a critical issue, using the text as a window through which to read the relevant theory. An excellent example would be Nicholas Visser’s “Tristram Shandy and the straight line of history” in Vol. 12,issue 3, Winter 1998, in which Visser argues for a reading of Tristram Shandy which plays with notions of historical narrative as well as literary narrative. Beginning with vol. 9, issue three, Winter 1995 Textual Practice began publishing abstracts with keyword listings in the back of each issue, facilitating perusal and pointed academic investigation. Textual Practice is published thrice annually. Milner holdings start at volume four in 1990.Boundary 2Boundary 2 dates from 1976 where it began as “journal of postmodern literature” at State University of New York, Binghamton. However since 1990 the journal, now “an international journal of literature and culture,” has made its home at Duke University. The change of base and motto are not incidental to the direction of the journal. In the early years Boundary 2 focused primarily on readings of then current and cutting edge postmodern authors like Donald Barthleme, John Barth, and Thomas Pynchon. The readings, although radical in their subject, were relatively traditional, more literary criticism than theory. With the move to Duke the original fiction and poetry were excised and purely theoretical articles took precedence over criticism. Boundary 2, while not as comprehensive as Textual Practice, also stays current. In the late nineties issues have focused more and more on cultural studies and post colonial criticism. This focus has dovetailed with an increased tendency toward thematically precise isssues. A good example would be 1992’s vol. 19, issue 3: “1492-1992 American Indian Persistence and Resurgence.” Other recent colloquium issues include: It should be noted


View Full Document
Download A Critical Compression of Journals in Literary Theory
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view A Critical Compression of Journals in Literary Theory and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view A Critical Compression of Journals in Literary Theory 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?