Literature as Event: On Eagleton from After Theory to The Event of Literature

Abstract

Abstract: Terry Eagleton argues that literary works are unities of structures and events, facts and actions. Literary tradition as a whole is both oppositional to and interwoven with the extrinsic social history, which is not merely a reflection from the given realities and literary works but the presence of literary works in the world when they present themselves as events. The interpretation of literary works should target at events and the specific strategies by which the works present themselves instead of targeting at "objects" and "essences." Eagleton proposes that critics should get rid of the dichotomy between essentialism and anti-essentialism so as to reflect on some fundamental issues in literary theory such as reflection and belief, theory and praxis, autonomy and heteronomy.

Key words: theory, literature, event, Eagleton

Tang Yonghua. Literature as Event: On Eagleton from After Theory to The Event of Literature[J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2014, 34(1): 53-61.

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