‘이론 이후’의 문학에 어떤 희망이 가능한가?

Is There Hope in Literature after Theory?

&nbsp;&nbsp;In the aftermath of the explosive proliferation of theories for some 30 years, it is now fashionable to refer to “the death of theory” as a way of expressing or reshaping the critical concerns about the future of literary studies. Some conservative critics insist that now is the time to return to the study of literary “text itself,” while literary theorists present the idea that it is impossible to do without theory even if we admit that literary theory can no longer be counted upon as the legitimate guide for literary scholars. After the decline of so-called “grand narratives” and after a few rounds of “free plays” by psychoanalysis and deconstruction, however, theory today definitely loses its intellectual attractiveness in many, if not all, fields of humanities. With these contentions and diagnoses, this paper argues that the recent appearance of discourses on the crisis of literature, which is based on the critique of the enthusiasm for literary theory turning sour, does not merit a full critical attention, because what the critics of “text itself” contend still presupposes a theory of their own, that is, an a-political formalism.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Moreover, even the critic like Karatani Kojin, who laments over the death of modern literature in the Western countries as well as countries like Korea and Japan, believes that it is not theory but the post-industrial society that assumes such a decisive threat to the future of literature. Focusing on the critical implications of deconstruction, especially the concept of literature in the deconstructive criticism, this thesis explores the way to refashion the status of literature and literary theory in the future. Literature takes a significant place in Derrida&quot;s deconstruction, but not as an independent realm but rather as a signifier to unsettle and destabilize any kind of coherence. As a theory of what makes a theory a theory, deconstruction contributes to the demonstration of the necessary theoretical moment in every text. What matters is not to theorize whether theory is possible or desirable but to figure out the way to develop a theory about the theoretical moment of literary text itself. Deconstruction would feature only a first step.