Proficiency exercise 4
A summary of Peter Barry’s: ”Tackling Textuality- With Theory”
Keywords:
Close reading
Structural pattern
Deconstructive reading
Macro- and micro patterns
Similarity
The real content
Literal or metaphorical reading
Peter Barry is writing in his article in The use of English Volume 52, number 1, Autumn 2000 about teachers assumed skills to analyze texts. He proposes a solution to problems about traditional interpretations of texts. Close reading is according to him the central to the study of literature. Peter Barry suggests four areas to show what traditional way of analyzes does not cover.
There is a check-list of operations which literary critics use, such as:
• Looking for micro-and macro patterns and what is breaking them.
• Looking for similarity - on first - but find up differences later.
• Overt and covert content - what is the text really about?
• Distinguishing between meaning and significance –meaning remains but significance shifters.
• Genre or literary type – During different age’s characters can act as they are supposed to in that period of time.
• What is literal and what is metaphorical- is a bullet a real bullet or something else?
• Accurate reading – not changing the precise literal words.
• Identify stages, phases and the linguistic period, being aware of semantic changes.
According to Peter Barry these are “…the main ways in which readers and critics engage with literary texts…” Peter Barry still thinks there are some things that are missing. He suggests not only looking inwards the text but also outwards. By using deconstructive reading there is an opportunity to analyze even more.
He uses the example of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 to illuminate a texts four other major aspects. These aspects are:
• Literature and history – what were the historic references when the text was written?
• Literature and language – what is the underlying meaning of the text, the undercurrents?
• Literature and gender - Is the writer man or woman? How does it show?
• Literature and psychoanalysis – The mental process between literature and underlying feelings
The most important of them all is according Barry: Literature and language. It makes it possible to use deconstructive reading, which is a “powerful tool in literary theory.” It makes the deconstructor to work like a person “stroking the cat wrong way”. That will be like the text in war with it self. A de constructor of a text is searching for things like: contradictions, linguistic quirks, aporia, shifts or breaks, and absences or omissions.
Barry gives an example of a poem by Hilda Doolittle: “Oread”, as a poem already deconstructed itself. Barry claims that the poem “resists reading” and is an object with pure textuality.
He also quotes the poem of Adrienne Rich: “Transit”, as a poem “which actively resists reading”. The resisting is about: contradictions, odd language, shifts in person/attitude and the absence and omissions. The fundamental in the poem is: Who is the skier?
To sum up the most important: Peter Barry asks the readers why even try to do literary theory since it “throws up more problems than it is capable of solving.”
The reasons he comes up with are the really complexity of academically analyses that really exists, and not to forget, the real joy of reading.
Prenumerera på:
Kommentarer till inlägget (Atom)
Susannes comments on Marja's summary:
SvaraRaderaYou have done a good summary of Barry’s article, Marja, You have a presentation of the author and where to read the full article in your first paragraph.
You have relevant keywords which point out some of the important aspects for dealing with literature Barry stresses in the text.
You are not just putting the check-point words or the four aspects in a row – you also give a brief explanation of them. I think that is good otherwise it could be hard to understand the words for someone uninitiated.
You are objective and point out that it is Barry’s thoughts, not yours, by referring very explicit to Barry; “according to…”, ”Barry thinks…”, “he…” and “Barry asks…”.
When you refer to the poems you do it shortly so it does not claim too much attention from the reader – very well adjusted.
The few misses I can find in your text is the separate writing of the word “itself” and the missing full stop in the line about literature and psychoanalysis.
However, it is easy to follow your text, and you give important facts from the article such as the most important aspect; literature and language, and you also point out the soul of deconstructive reading.
In the end you sum up the important parts and end with one of Barry’s final goals - the joy of reading. You have done a very good paraphrasing of the article.