Authorial intention mitchell major reference works wiley. We then explore how some other methodologies, technologies and insights associated with this last branch of the discipline might be brought to bear on the topic of authorial intention, with the aim of determining whether, and in what ways, our understanding of authorial intention, and its role in literary processing, might be furthered through. Authorial intention and global coherence in fictional text. The taboo was enforced by a seminal article, the intentional fallacy, and it deepened during the era of poststructuralist theory. The varieties of authorial intention is a book that literary scholars of every specialization would benefit from reading. Authorial intention has long been a taboo subject in literary studies. This book explores the logic and historical origins of a strange taboo that has haunted literary critics since the 1940s, keeping them from referring to the intentions of authors without apology. A writers intention may expose a side of hisher work that we simply hadnt considered before but, now that its been brought to our attention, we see. I didnt really like modern literary theory as an undergrad but i wouldnt be doing literature justice if i ignored it entirely. I feel that since this book can be looked at in so many different angles, that is why it is still a relevant literary work, even after almost 200 years from the first publishing. It is not my intention to embroil myself in this theoretical dispute. A theoretical analysis of the concept of authorial intention in narrative fiction, and of its structural and communicational implications, is followed by an indepth examination of stephen cranes novella the monster 1898 as a case study in both structural analysis and critical. The varieties of authorial intention literary theory. This booklength paper is a brown university dissertation in american literature and literary theory.
Dec 23, 2011 but the determination started with what was written and worked from there. Eliot, and others, argued that authorial intent is irrelevant to understanding a work of literature. Authorial intention and global coherence in fictional text comprehension. Authorial intentionality is a concept in literary theory and criticism referring to an authors intent as it is encoded in his or her work. Many people have interpreted the story to fit their own interests, which isnt necessarily wrong, it just probably wasnt the original intention of the author. I argue that tensions arising from the way in which mainstream philosophical hermeneuticsrepresentedhere by hansgeorg gadamer and paul ricoeurhassought to construe the role of an authors intention in relation to the world. Stanley fish brought the matter to the attention of many readers with is there a text in this class.
Inthecaseofovidsliterarycorpus,thispracticearousesanunusual. Formalism, authorial intent, and reader response theory. For just that reason, authorial intentions become of interest to us. A brief history of literary theory xenos christian fellowship. The information below is meant merely as a guide or introduction to modern literary theories and trends. The object of this text is to enter into the debate over authorial intents place. Giving a brief overview of three big branches of literary criticismanalysis. The classical accounts by schleiermacher 180533, rpt.
Before the later 20 th century, the idea that an editor aimed to present a text that embodied the intentions. Literary theory has undergone drastic changes in the past century and this paper is an attempt to understand some of the influences that have altered the critical landscape. When an author chooses to advertise the revised status of a text, she invites the reader to look for the strategy involved in making this aspect visible. In literary theory and aesthetics, authorial intent refers to an authors intent as it is encoded in wimsatt and monroe beardsley argue in their essay the intentional fallacy that the design or intention of the author is neither available nor. A brief history of literary theory xenos christian. Arguments over authorial intention and the relevance of this to the interpretation of a text. Not all fans assign the same importance to authorial intent, and some consider their own reader response to be the thing that determines meaning in a work.
Debate between intentionalists and antiintentionalists. A readers guide to contemporary literary theory raman selden peter widdowson peter brooker fifth edition a readers guide to contemporary literary theoryis a classic introduction to the everevolving field of modern literary theory, now expanded and updated in its fifth edition. Redefining authorial intent in literary theory digital commons. In hirschs definition of intention, the author can intend a meaning both consciously. Theory attempts to solveor to celebrate the impossibility of solvinga set of familiar problems. Scholars must not legislate that authorial intentions are unimportant in text interpretation. The concept of authorial intention in textual criticism. Authorial intent in the composition classroom eric. Redefining authorial intent in literary theory by t scott ross wilkins a thesis. The change that has taken place in literary theory is not novel to this discipline alone, nor is it to be explained by any one phenomenon. Oct 01, 2012 many people have interpreted the story to fit their own interests, which isnt necessarily wrong, it just probably wasnt the original intention of the author.
Authorial intention used to be one of the essentials of literary criticism. The intentional fallacy, or authorial intent the writer. Dec 03, 2012 in his 1984 essay, the concept of authorial intention in textual criticism, james mclaverty explores the complications of prioritizing authorial intent in an editorial or critical approach to a text, which special attention to the problems that arise when multiple authorial versions of a work. In literary theory and aesthetics, authorial intent refers to an authors intent as it is encoded in their work. Pdf this paper is a critical examination of two antithetical theories on the role of authorial intention in the criticism and interpretation of. Authorial intention is a central concept in the classical theory of hermeneutics developed in the romantic age. It is a mistake to start with our idea of authorial intention and then work toward the text. Examination of key passages of scripture indicates that the authorial intent of the. Literary intention, literary interpretations, and readers. In literary theory and aesthetics, authorial intent refers to an author s intent as it is encoded in their work. On two american theories jose angel garcia landa brown university, 1989 originally published in miscelanea 12 zaragoza, 1991.
But since deconstruction, socalled intentionalist readings are considered at best dubious, and more usually a mark of deep naivety. The literary theorist, like the passionate trout fisherman discoursing upon the presentation of artificial flies, may hold forth on what is and is not the proper way to go about reading a novel, yet the very nature of the fictional imagination itself invites complicated response. The varieties of authorial intention literary theory beyond. Instead, they should continue to empirically explore the extent to which assumptions about authorship shape cognitive and literary approaches to text understanding. However, it remains the case that literary linguistic approaches to literary. To what extent can a text itself be said to be intentional. Significantly, several of my respondents indicated that they were fully aware of the injunctions against privileging authorial intent in.
We will not attempt to solve these problems, nor will we be con. Gods meaning and revelatoryintention in any passage of scripture. In his 1984 essay, the concept of authorial intention in textual criticism, james mclaverty explores the complications of prioritizing authorial intent in an editorial or critical approach to a text, which special attention to the problems that arise when multiple authorial versions of a work. Even now, when the vocabulary of critique that has dominated the literary field is under sweeping revision, the matter of. Probing the entire range of issues connected with this manyfaceted and. Hirsch indicates that meaning is 10 be associated with authorial intent. It is one of the most downtoearth and sensible books ever written about the study of literature. Literary theory beyond the intentional fallacy by john farrell. Even now, when the vocabulary of critique that has dominated the literary field is under sweeping revision, the matter of authorial intention has yet to be reconsidered. This paper is a critical examination of two antithetical theories on the role of authorial intention in the criticism and interpretation of literature. Stanley fish brought the matter to the attention of many readers with is there a. The origins of an intellectual taboo polarization of the classic debate around the intentional fallacy and the historical background for the popularity of the textualist view. Beardsleys expose of the intentional fallacy, barthes diagnosis of the.
Ill begin by invoking the specter of authorial intent in literary theory and literature pedagogy in order to establish both the limits of compositions own engagement. Introduction to modern literary theory kristi siegel. A readers guide to contemporary literary theory 5th edition. We argued that the design or intention of the author is neither available nor desirable as a standard. A position that argues that the creator of a text possesses a privileged understanding of its meaning and that. The aim of this book is to provide an indepth analysis and critique of this concept of intention, its uses within the realms of literary theory, aesthetics, philosophy of language, phenomenology and deconstruction, and its potential for redefinition. Mclaverty discusses the work of james thorpe, fredson bowers, thomas. Most people still do not understand the differentiation between an authors intentions and the interpretations of their work and those that do often ridicule it. The varieties of authorial intention literary theory beyond the. Significantly, several of my respondents indicated that they were fully aware of the injunctions against privileging authorial intent in literary and cultural. Literary theory beyond the intentional fallacy john farrell forthcoming from palgrave analytic table of contents introduction. Authorial intentionalism is the view, according to which an authors intentions should constrain the ways in which it is properly interpreted. Oct 27, 2011 to what extent can a text itself be said to be intentional.
Interpretation, hermeneutics, criticism, intention, literary criticism. A literary movement that started in the late 1920s and 1930s and originated in reaction to traditional criticism that new critics saw as largely concerned with matters extraneous to the text, e. Gestures towards the connection between the issue of authorial intention and modern problems of. Literary stylistics, authorial intention and the scientific. Wimsatt and monroe beardsley wrote in their essay the intentional fallacy. Intentionalism is a theory that claims the relevance of authorial intention as a criterion for interpreting art, since it considers that meanings of art works by itself can be ambiguous. May 26, 2014 giving a brief overview of three big branches of literary criticismanalysis. For some critical theorists, the concept of authorial intention is irrelevant to a text, or even in its implications sinister, while for others,a construct of authorial intention represents the only valid basis for interpretation.
This reaction is linked to literary modernism and can be seen taking shape in various forms during the nineteenth and the first half of the twentienth century. As for whether it is important in modern literary theory, it is still important because nothing had changed to make it more acceptable to analyze intentions as opposed to meaning. When theories are explained briefly, a necessary reduction in their complexity and richness occurs. Jan 09, 2011 this paper is a critical examination of two antithetical theories on the role of authorial intention in the criticism and interpretation of literature. The varieties of authorial intention by farrell, john ebook. This accessible, personal, and provocative study returns to the major subject in literary discussion before and during the relatively recent flourishing of literary theory, that of literary intention. Ovid and authorial revision authorial revision is a more or less invisible aspect of all literary composition.
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