Decoding Literary Theories

  Historicism Historicism is an important approach in literary criticism and the philosophy of history which emphasizes the role of historical context in understanding human thought, culture, and literature. It argues that all human ideas, values, and artistic works are shaped by the time and place in which they are produced. Therefore, no text can be fully understood without considering its historical background. Definition of Historicism Historicism can be broadly defined as the belief that every aspect of human life is a product of history and must be studied within its specific historical context. According to Frederick Beiser, historicism is based on the idea that all features of the human world emerge from historical conditions and cannot be separated from them. This approach challenges the idea of universal truths. Instead of believing that literature expresses timeless and universal values, historicism insists that meanings change over time depending on cultural and histori...

  Jacques Derrida (1930–2004) was a French philosopher who deeply influenced modern literary theory and philosophy. Born in Algeria during French colonial rule, he later became one of the leading voices of post-structuralism. Derrida is best known for developing deconstruction , a way of reading texts that shows how meanings are never fixed, final, or fully stable. His famous 1966 lecture, “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences,” questioned the idea that systems of thought have a secure center or absolute truth. Some of his other major works include Of Grammatology (1967), where he critiques Western philosophy’s preference for speech over writing; Writing and Difference (1967), a collection of essays exploring philosophy and literature; and Speech and Phenomena (1967), which examines language and consciousness. Through these works, Derrida transformed the way we read texts and think about meaning. His ideas continue to influence literary criticism, fe...

  Introduction Elaine Showalter’s essay “Twenty Years On: A Literature of Their Own Revisited” is a retrospective reflection on her influential feminist literary history A Literature of Their Own, published in 1977. In this essay, Showalter examines how feminist literary criticism emerged, how her work contributed to its foundations, and how it has been debated, criticized, revised, and expanded over two decades. The essay is both autobiographical and critical, tracing the intellectual history of feminist criticism alongside her own scholarly journey. For students, this essay is important because it explains why women’s writing was excluded from the canon and how feminist criticism reshaped literary studies. Academic Climate Before Feminist Criticism Showalter begins by recalling the academic atmosphere of the 1960s, when feminist criticism did not exist as a recognized field. Women writers were largely absent from university syllabi, literary histories, and critical discussions. ...