Literary Theory Quotes

“Linguistics and Poetics’ essay of 1960,”
― Hans Bertens, Literary Theory: The Basics

“Arnold might object that ideally all of us should get the same – extended – education. And he might also point out that education does not benefit those who refuse to be educated – after all, Culture and Anarchy does not hesitate to group the English aristocracy and the Anglican establishment with the ‘Barbarians’. But he would have to admit that educational opportunities are not evenly distributed over this world; there are, even within every nation, sharply different levels in education. A sceptic might easily see Arnold's”
― Hans Bertens, Literary Theory: The Basics

“Our social institutions expect us to be reasonable and to be reasonably free. Because of that freedom, we ourselves are supposedly the source of the value and the meaning we attach to things. As liberal subjects we are not the sum of our experiences but can somehow stand outside experience: we are not defined by our circumstances but are”
― Hans Bertens, Literary Theory: The Basics