Literary theory

Author: Lu Shuyuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: In the modern academic sense, the writing of literature theory textbooks has already had nearly a century of history. Over the past century, people have written no fewer than 250 textbooks on literary theory. However, to this day, there remains disagreement and controversy over what literature is, what its function is, where its boundaries lie, and where its future lies. We believe this is not surprising—it is precisely in line with the nature of literature. If, like some natural sciences, literary issues had a clear and definitive structure, literature might no longer be literature in the true sense of the word. Broadly speaking, literature is after all a form of human life activity, social cultural activity, and aesthetic spiritual activity—it is a manifestation of human nature and the human heart. The more complex the human heart is, the more complex society is, and the more complex literature will be; the broader the field of human cultural activity, the broader the field of human spiritual activity, and the broader literature will be. Therefore, the exploration of literary issues must also be endless.