Webb Chapter 7

This chapter of Allen Webb's book discusses several previously untouched literary theory practices. The first of these that I want to talk about is Poststructuralism. This theory draws upon the Reader Response theory in the sense that there are no "fixed meanings" of a particular text, but it differs from RR in that there it sees readers and writers as not being altogether unique in their experience with a given text. Poststructuralism looks for patterns that are inherent within the text in order to render them as familiar in relation to other texts that have been written. Webb describes this theory best on pages 134 and 135 when he says that while using this theory, "no one has an isolated, complete, or 'unified' consciousness separate from the language and culture in which we all live. Individuals are cultural beings, and language, texts, institutions, and social practices script the way we think and act. In this view, rather than being universal, human nature is particular and depends on culture, social codes, and the historical moment." I tend to like this literary theory for the simple fact that it assumes that language creates reality. The only truths that could possibly be found in literature texts are the ones that we, as humans, have created, thus we must interpret and analyze literature according to its individual and collective relationship to all other literature texts. Another literary theory that I'd like to explore is that of Postmodernism. I like this theory because of its inherently subjective qualities. Indeed Webb even says, "postmodernism means different things to different people," (page 143). Postmodernism attempts to refuse any distinct difference between the "individual" and the "society," and instead views literature as a "collage" of every possible experience and interaction. Almost as a metaphor for our diverse student populations within each classroom community, Webb says that, "[i]n its best version, postmodernist teaching means respect for difference; recognition of compositeness, mixture, blending; and examination of the restrictions that prevent people from creative participation in the making and hybridizing of culture," (page 143). One final theory from this chapter which deserves mentioning is the Post-Marxism theory. Like Marxism theory, this approach to literature strives to realize the "power of the people." Putting on the lens of this theoretical approach would have you emphasizing the voices of the "marginal" or "oppressed" groups of people while exposing the threat of the "dominant" voices. Like the traditional Marxists who "believe that the way people think and believe, their 'ideology,' is not something that they freely choose," Webb says on page 150 that, "many post-Marxist scholars continue to draw insight and inspiration from socialist thought while rejecting its oppressive aspects." An interesting analogy that Webb uses while discussing this literary theory explores how this "approach to teaching might treat schools themselves as texts and ask students to explore the structure of curriculum and learning," (page 151). In light of the No Child Left Behind Act, and specifically its use of "Adequate Yearly Progress" to determine federal funding, this literary theory could be used to explain why failing schools (the oppressed minority voices) continue to fail, while passing schools (the predominant majority voice) continue to succeed.