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A Background to Critical Theory Colin John Holcombe Ocaso Press 2016 A Background to Critical Theory Volume I: Text and References Colin John Holcombe © Ocaso Press 2016 Published by Ocaso Press Ltda. Santiago, Chile. All rights reserved. Last Revised: April 2021 Copyright applies to this work, but you are most welcome to download, read and distribute the material as a pdf ebook. You are not permitted to modify the ebook, claim it as your own, sell it on, or to financially profit in any way from its distribution. CONTENTS 1. Critical Theory: Preface and Arguments 1 2. New Perspectives 20 3. A Summing Up 32 4. Findings of Aesthetics 47 5. Art as Autonomous Aesthetic Objects 60 6. Art as Non-Autonomous Objects 73 7. Barthes 79 8. Derrida 84 9. Foucault 94 10. Bakhtin 98 11. Art as Emotive Expression 103 12. Nineteenth Century Philosophers 113 13. Kant 123 14. Hegel 132 15. Existentialism 137 16. Nietzsche 146 17. Heidegger 150 18. Hermeneutics 159 19. Freud 169 20. Jung 176 21. Lacan 180 22. Experimental Psychology 186 23. Brain Functioning 196 24. Metaphor Theory 238 25. Biological Models 249 26. Sociological Perspectives 264 27. Faithful Representation 299 28. Representation in Analytical Philosophy 306 29. Theories of Meaning 314 30. Davidson's Theory of Meaning 329 i 31. Theories of Truth 336 32. Truth in Logic 345 33. Mathematical Truth 353 34. Truth in Science 364 35. Myth of Science 373 36. The New Science 383 37. Linguistics 393 38. Formalists 404 39. Chomskian Linguistics 413 40. Art as a Purposeful Activity 419 41. Marxist Views 428 42. Religious Perspectives 443 43. Feminism 455 44. Post-Colonial Studies 461 45. Critical Theory in Action 478 46. Marketing Theory 527 Those wanting a theoretical background to Verse Writing: A Practical Guide may wish to consult the sections in this order: Chapter Three: Sentence Structure Findings of Aesthetics 47 Autonomous Aesthetic Objects 60 Emotive Expression 103 Faithful Representation 299 Purposeful Activity 419 Chapter 6: Word Choice Theories of Meaning 314 Chapter 8: Metaphor and Imagery Metaphor Theory 238 Chapter 17: Modernist Styles Existentialism 137 Nietzsche 146 ii Heidegger 150 Hermeneutics 159 Theories of Truth 336 Linguistics 393 Formalists 404 Chomskian Linguistics 413 Chapter 18: Postmodernist Styles Non-Autonomous Objects 73 Barthes 79 Derrida 84 Foucault 94 Bakhtin 98 Marxist Views 428 Chapter 20: The Cutting Edge Myth of Science 373 The New Science 383 Index 547 iii PREFACE The material making this extensive review of critical theory first appeared a decade ago on textetc.com, but I have taken the opportunity to shape the text a little more here, correct errors and typos, update sections on brain functioning (23) and the social theories of literature, (26) and add a little political economy (26, 45), social history (44) and marketing theory (46). The fervour that animated critical theory in the 1980s and 90s has largely disappeared. Critical theory has an accepted place in most university departments, probably not by winning the arguments but because its opponents have left the field — retired, taken up other causes and/or realized that critical theory is not based on argument but deep-seated changes working their way through western societies. The arguments have not disappeared, however, and a proper evaluation is arguably (45) more needed than ever. I have largely kept the varied citation employed on the website, and students may wish to use the standard methods when quoting references. Similarly with the supplementary Internet references, which, in the interests of a manageable size for this publication, I have hived off as a separate ebook. Dead links have been removed, but I have not have updated the references, as this becomes a never- ending task. Most of the Internet material should still be useful, however, and readers can make additional searches once alerted to relevant topics. A collection of multiple but interrelated perspectives is not easily organised. Shaping about a central theme is scarcely possible, and would anyway reduce what the reader is entitled know. I have therefore grouped the material into 46 fairly self-contained chapters. Each chapter is subdivided into sections numbered sequentially for easy reading. The chapters are constructed from the source material listed in the References section and shown in braces in the text, e.g. 1 {12}. Quite different are the curved brackets — e.g. (12.2) — which (in place of hyperlinks, which may not work on some 7” tablets) — are cross references to the same material explained more fully elsewhere, or from different perspectives. Thus the difficult and rather technical section on Davidson’s theory of truth — chapter 30 — is introduced by a summary in section 29.6, for example, where the reference (30) appears. I have tried to provide a clear and balanced account of matters that form the bedrock of critical theory, without evading proper assessment or obscuring the fundamental disagreements between authorities. Rather than blend viewpoints into a general perspective, I have generally thought it better to let the disagreements stand, though sometimes adding an explanation. The section on literature as money (26.6), for example, includes a critique of Marx from a mainstream, slightly-right-of-centre political perspective, while the 19th century social history of Britain (45.15) is based on A.L. Morton’s Marxist account. With the similar aim, a summary of Matt Ridley’s optimistic neo-liberal outlook on the world (26.6) is preceded by nine references to authors who have much darker view of mankind’s future. Chapter 2 is my own view of what is worth saving of present theory, and chapter 3 summarizes the whole field — again my own assessment, but one the reader can readily confirm or dissent from by reading further in the text and references. A few topics are treated in some detail to help the non- technical reader in specialist areas — logic, brain functioning, Islamic studies and political economy — but even these are only notes and summaries, i.e. pointers to extensive fields of study that will only come alive and seem persuasive if readers take the time to follow up the references and read further in books and web pages. 2 1. INTRODUCTION Critical theory, the approaches and parent philosophies with which we evaluate literature, has definite limits. English departments and writing schools generally provide their students with a theoretical background to their future labours. But once exams are over, most students happily dispense with theory and take to the practical application of what has been taught them, i.e. the craft that will earn them standing in their community and a modest (usually very modest) income. Good writers are intuitive creatures, and they come to know instinctively when something has to be recast, shortened or bolstered with argument. Theory is there to help them should they need it, but its wider reaches and philosophical implications are not generally of interest. Theory does not deal with absolutes but with interpretations, speculations, elusive chains of thought. Those who write ‘now Derrida has shown that. .’ or ‘with our better understanding of post-colonial issues. .’ are laying claim to what does not exist. These are philosophical positions, with insights and modes of argument. It is perfectly possible to believe that the senses consistently deceive us, for example, and to argue that this world is a delusion. And that position, respectable and with a long history behind it, brings certain consequences that philosophy explores. But the issues remain speculative, and expounding Berkeley's theories to the magistrate's bench will not get us off a speeding fine. Much in life is conducted by shared values, tacit assumptions, unsupported codes of behaviour, and these are only dug up and examined when the unexpected happens. But today much is being questioned, particularly in avant- garde poetry, painting and music. The more progressive arts wish to be challenging and experimental, free to represent the world in their own way. Sometimes their explorations are guided by theory, or by deductions from current theory, but 3 more usually the theory acts in a consulting or supporting role. To explain themselves, obtain employment and get their work sold, their protagonists extract what they can from notions and fashionable opinions that float round the art world. The result may be a patchwork of inconsistent ideas imperfectly understood, but critics, gallery owners and writers of concert notes ask for these viewpoints, and artists find it comforting to have them. Many twentieth-century poetry movements boil down to very dubious notions, as they have over the centuries. Poets issue statements which are vague, wildly inconsistent and hardly followed through. Manifestos urge crusades to claim aesthetic new ground, which exists only through their own misunderstandings. Critics announce new associations of poets, who themselves deny such a movement exists. More vexing still is radical theory. Even if largely a tangled mass of assertions and misunderstandings of technicalities, it is still necessary reading. For all its deficiencies, theory can focus attention on what writers should be trying to do, act as a prophylactic against the false and stultifying, and open up disciplines that support writing and are fascinating in their own right. As simple introductions, I hope these pages will help readers navigate contested waters and select the areas most useful or congenial to them. 1.1. A Correct Theory? Is there now a generally correct theory of literature? No. Is there a body of thought that is broadly accepted? Far from it: the scene is a battlefield of opinions and assertions, with little supporting thought or experiment. What then? First we shall find that matters are not much better in other disciplines, though the battle is more discretely conducted.

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