Paradigm Shift in Literary Studies

Abstract

Literature has been studied in every age according to the
critical tools available to the readers and critics of that age. Literature
has been studied in humanist perspective with its focus on objectivity,
universality and originality for a long time. Realism has been its hallmark
for centuries. Saussure’s focus on language as a system of signs resulted
in what has been called ‘linguistic turn’. Linguistic turn drew attention to
literature as a construct, which comprised signs deriving its significance
from the system that produces it. ‘Cultural turn’ was occasioned by
Williams’ and Althusser’s reinterpretation of Marx’s materialist approach
to literature. Cultural studies equate literature with cultural artifacts and
ideology. Postmodern turn challenges all the traditional claims to
objectivity and originality. Edward Said’s Orientalism is called ‘Political
turn’. This political turn ushered in postcolonial theories of literature
which focus on literature as a site of conflict between the colonizer and
the colonized in the contemporary intellectual milieu.