A new territory? Literary criticism as a literary genre

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is to study the developments within the field of literary study and literary theory from the perspective of the notion of literature. Since the changes in theoretical discourse at the turn of the 1960 and 1970s literary criticism has become more essayistic in style and descriptive in nature, covering a wide spectrum of cultural phenomena and sharing various features previously reserved for literary or artistic activity. The initial reactions to the omnipresence of structuralism—together with its methodological limitations— resulted in original positions countering the objective modes of literary study. What is more, such standpoints, initially reflecting the counter-cultural vehemence of the times, fit into the anti-systematic tradition (Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Derrida) which questions the borders between philosophy/theory and art/literature. In the work of such thinkers as Roland Barthes or Jacques Derrida one might observe transformations of the approach to understanding the object of study, the purpose of literary criticism or the way of reading literature. As a result, it is interesting to analyse the selected examples of post-1960s critical discourses in order to determine their traits and possible similarities or differences shared with literary discourse and verify their usefulness for literary study. Particular attention is paid to the work of Barthes, Derrida and post-modern thinking in the light of crossing borders and opening up new territories for interpretation in literary and culture studies. Therefore, such concepts as literature, style, and theory are analysed in the context of contemporary theoretical discourse.