"What Is Literature"—A Study Of Terry Eagleton's Literary Views

As a Marxist literary theorist,Terry Eagleton always regards fundamental literary issues as the starting point of argument.Therefore,he explained the essence of literature at various stages.This thesis has sorted out Terry Eagleton's view on literature at various stages,analyzed reasons for the changes in Terry Eagleton's view on literature,pointed out that his view on literature has relatively stable connotations in constant rich adjustment.Terry Eagleton has endowed "literary" concepts with liquidity and openness,and closely connected it with social and historical context.Such literature research methods have important inspirations on the exploration of the essence of literature.The preface sorts out and analyzes Terry Eagleton's research on the essence of literature,and points out that the essence of literature is always what Terry Eagleton cares about.It reviews the current status and defects for the research on Terry Eagleton's view on literary theories.An overview of domestic and overseas scholars' study of Terry Eagleton' literary theories shows that few works systematically sort out and illustrate the essence of literature by him.In the studies on Terry Eagleton' literary theories,most scholars offer interpretation by focusing on the key words such as "ideological theory","construction and de-construction",and "literary production".However,few scholars sort out the connotations of literary concepts by Terry Eagleton.Therefore,the priority of this thesis is to systematically sort out Terry Eagleton's view on literature,find out reasons for the changes in Terry Eagleton's view on literature,and permanent connotations in his literary concepts.Chapter One systematically examines Terry Eagleton's three views on literature,sorts out the specific content and the causes of his view on literature at various periods in sequential order,and comments on the three views on literature.In the early stage,Terry Eagleton stood from the perspective of social history,proposed "literature as the ideological production",reflected on the relationship between production art and art as ideology,and stressed the physical existence of literature.After entering the 1980s,Terry Eagleton was affected by the social and historical context,questioned the cultural definitions of western theories,finally arrived at the conclusion that the forever given and ever-lasting "objectivity" and "literature"do not exist,and further proposed "literature as a form of cultural practice".After entering the 21st century with the decline in literary theories,Terry Eagleton re-examined the essence of literature.With the help of "Family Resemblance" of Wittgenstein,he summarized five elements for literature,including functionality,morality,language,non-practical value,and normativeness and proposed the view on literature of "the event of literature".Chapter Two analyzes the causes and changes of Terry Eagleton's view on literature at various periods and the relatively stable core in the changing view on literature.Terry Eagleton' different illustrations on the essence of literature belong to the literary theory transformation based on "fusion of horizons" His different understandings on the essence of literature are attributed not only to the shift of his illustration perspectives,but also to his proposition that literature should be incorporated in the social and historical context.In Terry Eagleton's view on literature,there are the characteristics of dynamic changes and stable attributes.Terry Eagleton's investigation of literary issues is always based on Marxist literary theory.His answers at various periods on literary issues all adhere to historical materialism and philosophy of dialectical materialism.At various periods,Terry Eagleton always hold a questioning attitude toward "essentialism",have different understandings on "essence",and lead to the difference in his expressions on his view on literature.His literary construction is a constantly enriching and adjusting process instead of constant self-deconstruction.Chapter Three discusses the contemporary value of the connotation research for the concept of "literature".Terry Eagleton's illustration of the essence of literature adheres to the unity of internal discipline and external regulations and insists on examining literary problems from multiple dimensions,which is undoubtedly of great reference value to the construction of modern literary theories.The conclusion summarizes Terry Eagleton's view on literature at various periods,illustrates Terry Eagleton's theoretical inspirations,and summarizes defects in the Terry Eagleton's view on literature.