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Who are the key figures in the field of literary theory and what are their contributions?

Ona Langworthy

When we talk about literary theory, we are talking about the ideas that people have about how literature works and what it means. There are many key figures who have helped shape these ideas over the years.

One important person in the field of literary theory is Ferdinand de Saussure. Saussure was a linguist who believed that language was the key to understanding literature. He argued that language was a system of signs, and that words only had meaning because we agreed on what they meant. This idea, known as the "signifier" and "signified," has been very influential in the study of literature.

Another important figure in literary theory is Roland Barthes. Barthes was a philosopher and critic who wrote about the way that we make meaning out of texts. He believed that literature was full of "signs" that we could interpret in different ways. For Barthes, the meaning of a text was never fixed - it was always changing depending on who was reading it and how they were interpreting it.

A third figure in literary theory is Jacques Derrida. Derrida was a philosopher who believed that meaning was always "deferred" - that is, it was always shifting and changing as we interacted with texts. He argued that we could never truly know what a text meant, because we were always interpreting it through our own experiences and biases.

Finally, we have Michel Foucault. Foucault was a historian and philosopher who wrote about the ways that power shapes our understanding of the world. He argued that language and literature were always connected to power, and that the way we talk about things influences the way we think about them. Foucault believed that we could only really understand literature by looking at it in its social and historical context.

All of these thinkers have made important contributions to our understanding of literature. They have helped us think about how language works, how we make meaning out of texts, and how power influences our understanding of the world. If you're interested in literary theory, these are definitely people you should read and learn more about!