Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

In Theory's Wake

In Theory's Wake Antoine Compagnon. Literature, Theor y, and Common Sense. Trans. Carol Cosman. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. viii, 224 p. Jean-Jacques Lecercle and Ronald Shusterman. L’ Emprise des signes: débat sur l’expérience litteraire. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2002. 259 p. Derek Attridge. The Singularity of Literature. London: Routledge, 2004. xiv, 178 p. Walter Benn Michaels. The Shape of the Signifier: 1967 to the End of History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. 224 p., 6 ills. Provided with two decades of hindsight, we are now in a position to assess the practical consequences of the epoch of theory, which have been very different in France and the United States. Antoine Compagnon, in the book here reviewed, says that the French new criticism “was solidly incorporated into the curriculum of France’s national education, especially in secondary teaching. This may well have been precisely what made it so rigid. It is impossible today to pass an entrance exam without mastering the subtle distinctions and jargon of narratology” (3). In the United States, which lacks France’s coordination of curriculum, testing, and college admission, theory had no comparable effect. Freed from the onus of reducing theory to a national pedagogy and teaching it to http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Comparative Literature Duke University Press

Loading next page...
 
/lp/duke-university-press/in-theory-s-wake-slauz8MxP9

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Duke University Press
Copyright
Copyright 2006 by University of Oregon
ISSN
0010-4124
eISSN
1945-8517
DOI
10.1215/-58-3-241
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Antoine Compagnon. Literature, Theor y, and Common Sense. Trans. Carol Cosman. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. viii, 224 p. Jean-Jacques Lecercle and Ronald Shusterman. L’ Emprise des signes: débat sur l’expérience litteraire. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2002. 259 p. Derek Attridge. The Singularity of Literature. London: Routledge, 2004. xiv, 178 p. Walter Benn Michaels. The Shape of the Signifier: 1967 to the End of History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. 224 p., 6 ills. Provided with two decades of hindsight, we are now in a position to assess the practical consequences of the epoch of theory, which have been very different in France and the United States. Antoine Compagnon, in the book here reviewed, says that the French new criticism “was solidly incorporated into the curriculum of France’s national education, especially in secondary teaching. This may well have been precisely what made it so rigid. It is impossible today to pass an entrance exam without mastering the subtle distinctions and jargon of narratology” (3). In the United States, which lacks France’s coordination of curriculum, testing, and college admission, theory had no comparable effect. Freed from the onus of reducing theory to a national pedagogy and teaching it to

Journal

Comparative LiteratureDuke University Press

Published: Jan 1, 2006

There are no references for this article.