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Theory's Empire
An Anthology of Dissent
Edited by Wilfrido Corral, professor of foreign languages
 Reading between the lines apparently isn’t what it used to be. In his book, Will Corral questions a trend on the part of educators to change the rules for teaching literary theory. And his findings appear to have struck an academic nerve.
“We are going against the new theoretical grain,” says Corral. “The book is in its third printing which tells us it has grabbed the attention of a lot of instructors.”
Corral edited the collection of 48 essays with Daphne Patai of the University of Massachusetts. The articles argue that literature professors are increasingly choosing books based on their own ideologies not on the basis of objective interpretations. The editors say that this in turn leads to teaching about the theory behind a book before students have a chance to discover it for themselves.
“Literary studies have become the province of secondary readings,” he says. “In other words you read about the text you are supposed to be reading.”
For example instead of reading Huckleberry Finn, students are reading theories about Huckleberry Finn. “What is often being done away with is the pleasure of reading,” Corral says.
Despite this, Corral says, teaching literary theory remains necessary. “The problem we have is that people are very selective on what those hidden meanings are, and project only those meanings that they like without giving the whole picture,” he says.
Theory’s Empire was chosen among the Books of the Year 2005 by The Times (London) Literary Supplement and has been reviewed enthusiastically in The Wall Street Journal and the National Review, among many others.
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