Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Book | Chapter

207111

Terry Eagleton

"Towards a science of the text"

K. M. Newton

pp. 171-176

Abstract

The literary text is not the "expression" of ideology, nor is ideology the "expression" of social class. The text, rather, is a certain production of ideology, for which the analogy of a dramatic production is in some ways appropriate. A dramatic production does not "express", "reflect", or "reproduce" the dramatic text on which it is based; it "produces' the text, transforming it into a unique and irreducible entity. … The relation between text and production is a relation of labour, the theatrical instruments (staging, acting skills and so on) transform the "raw materials' of the text into a specific product, which cannot be mechanically extrapolated from an inspection of the text itself. …

Publication details

Published in:

Newton K. M. (1997) Twentieth-century literary theory: a reader. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Pages: 171-176

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-25934-2_35

Full citation:

Newton K. M. (1997) „Terry Eagleton: "Towards a science of the text"“, In: K. M. Newton (ed.), Twentieth-century literary theory, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 171–176.