It's just the end of the beginning...

It's that time of year where we all start to reflect on the past year - the good, the bad, and the ugly. However, I'm not sure if this post can really fit into any one of those categories.

It was in our last class that I finally realized just how much critical theory comes into play into our lives. We were given a definition or idea of critical theory from Judith Butler, and in my opinion, its dead on. She says critical theory is a "critical interrogation about what we already believe and why we believe it." If you really think about it, I feel as though we could apply this defintion to all of the theories we have learned throughout the semester.

Liberal humanism is the foundatio for criticial theory because it states that we only read books or literature because it reflects human nature. Well what is human nature? When you really boil it down, human nature is our thoughts, beliefs, and values.

Marxism challenges our beliefs on capitalism and the value of money that we have placed in society, stating that there are no class systems and everyone should be equal in terms of power and wealth. This theory also questions our idea of reality being materialistic. Yet, if we went by the Marxist theory, then would we ever have a sense of what reality could be? How is this reality even considered "reality?"

Structuralism and psychoanalysis attempt to question our idea of thought and language. Why do we give meaning to certain objects and how is that meaning created? Yet, theory expects/asks us to change that idea of meaning- essentially that it doesn't exist. If it does, then it is only in relation to other objects/text.

Post-structuralism/deconstruction is in my opinion so closely related to Butler's idea of theory becuase it already chooses to deconstruct and question the meaning of any object. Why doesn't the meaning exist within texts? If i have read the text, and can clearly get a definition or theme as to what the text is trying to say- then why can you still say that there is no meaning within a text? When getting an understanding of post-structuralism, I felt as thought I was experiencing Derrida's concept of "differance" - never quite reaching that meaning or in this case understanding. It was very similar to the example we used in class while trying to explain diffeance. The fact that when you're driving in the car, road sign always pop up telling you the distance till your destination. However, differance is always reaching those signs. but never making it to the exit.

If at certain points, the meaning of a text is created by our beliefs, then the theory once again, is deconstructing our thoughts and ideas - leaving one unsure as to what exactly to think. We are left feeling unstable - much like what deconstruction theory's intention is for any text.

I think to end the class with post-colonialism, left me with a new way to think about cultural texts that I would never have even considered in August. This theory left me with a new outlook on just how much people lose or have lost their sense of identity all because they never really knew what it was in the beginning after being taken over.

It just shows how one idea in theory can overlap well into other various aspects of one's life. Do other countries feel as opressed about having our ideals and culture brought into theirs? Or do they accept it because they know that it could lead to the prospering of their country? I guess I look at it this way. Thanks to America, fast food has globalized. Other countries have created their own version of McDonalds, all over the world, because of how popular it is here in the US. Are we ever going to get to the point where the tables will turn - where their cultures will start to globalize in the US? Who knows, we will just have to wait it out and see.

So, critical theory is not just strictly decosntructing literary works and language, it deconstructs the beliefs we have learned from human nature. Take that for what it is worth - the good, the bad, or the ugly.

You make think that, with this post, comes the end of theory. But that is where you're wrong. It's only just the beginning....

Until next time....
pelipuf