Ideology... Is A Kind Of Contemporary Mythology,

Deconstruction Insists Not That Truth Is Illusory But That It Is Institutional.

The Most Common Mistake Students Of Literature Make Is To Go Straight For What The Poem Or Novel Says, Setting Aside The Way That It Says It. To Read Like This Is To Set Aside The ‘literariness’ Of The Work – The Fact That It Is A Poem Or Play Or Novel, Rather Than An Account Of The Incidence Of Soil Erosion In Nebraska.

We Face A Conflict Between Civilisation And Culture, Which Used To Be On The Same Side. Civilisation Means Rational Reflection, Material Wellbeing, Individual Autonomy And Ironic Self-doubt; Culture Means A Form Of Life That Is Customary, Collective, Passionate, Spontaneous, Unreflective And Arational.

Evil Is Often Supposed To Be Without Rhyme Or Reason.

Any Attempt To Define Literary Theory In Terms Of A Distinctive Method Is Doomed To Failure.