Ilse’s Reviews > Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction > Status Update
Ilse
is on page 17 of 144
Theory is driven by the impossible desire to step outside your own thought, both to place it and to understand it, and also by a desire for change - this is a possible desire- both in the world your thought engages and in the ways of your own thought, which always could be sharper, more knowledgeable and capacious, more self-reflecting.
— Nov 04, 2025 12:20PM
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Ilse’s Previous Updates
Ilse
is on page 28 of 144
'Literature' is an instutional label that gives us reason to expect that the results of our reading efforts will be 'worth it'. And many of the features of literature follow from the willingness of readers to pay attention, to explore uncertainties, and not immediately ask 'what do you mean by that?'
— Nov 15, 2025 05:19AM
Ilse
is on page 15 of 144
Theory is a source for constant upstagings: 'What! You haven't read Lacan! How can you talk about the lyric without addressing the specular constitution of the speaking subject? Or 'How can you write about the Victorian novel without using Foucault's account of the deployment of sexuality and the hysterization of women's bodies?'
— Oct 29, 2025 11:10AM
