Literary Theory and Its Discontents
John R Searle's essay Literary Theory and Its Discontents, published in New Literary History in 1994, critically examines contemporary literary theory, mainly focusing on the nature of textual meaning and the interplay between authorial intention, reader interpretation, and linguistic conventions.Distinction Between Literary Theory and CriticismSearle begins by distinguishing between "literary theory," which delves into abstract principles about textual meaning, and "literary criticism," wh...