In the early 1900s, the focus shifted from what a story said to how it was built .
: In the mid-20th century, theorists like those discussed in Jonathan Culler's introduction began seeing literature as a system of signs and codes, much like language itself. The "Theory Wars": Questioning Everything Literary Theory
: Thinkers began treating literature like a machine with functioning parts. They practiced "close reading," arguing that the only thing that mattered was the text itself—not the author's biography or the historical context. In the early 1900s, the focus shifted from
The "story" of literary theory is the history of how human beings have moved from simply asking what a story means to asking how language, power, and identity shape that meaning. It is a journey from the classical search for "truth" to a modern understanding of literature as a complex system of cultural forces. The Classical Roots: Art as Mirror They practiced "close reading," arguing that the only
By the 1960s and 70s, the "Theory Wars" broke out as scholars began to interrogation the very foundations of meaning. Literary Theory - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy