ShmoopTube

00:04

Literary Critics, a la Shmoop.

00:08

It's hard getting to know people.

00:09

We always have a tough time at mixers.

00:11

Usually, the truck driver just ends up shooing us away.

00:16

It makes it even harder to connect with someone when you've never actually met them.

00:21

Just ask our pen pal, Nam Pang... a panda at the Chengdu Zoo.

00:25

We don't want to rag on our new friend, but the conversation is fairly one-sided.

00:30

But when it comes to literary theorists, it's worth the extra effort to hear what they have to say.

00:37

As long as they... speak English and don't show up on any endangered species lists.

00:44

Literary theorists bring us new ways of reading our favorite books and poems...

00:48

...and they really want to get us thinking about what we read, how we read it, and why.

00:56

It's complicated stuff, and sometimes it involves some complicated language.

01:01

But with a little help from our trusty literary glossary, we can get through it.

01:06

Say you're at your favorite coffeehouse, dressed to the nines in

01:09

your favorite hipster scarf and ironic t-shirt...

01:12

...and you're doing your best to look the part by carrying around

01:14

a copy of James Joyce's Ulysses.

01:17

But then you think... hey, why not actually try

01:19

reading it instead of merely using it as a prop?

01:22

Unfortunately... it goes something like this...

01:27

Until, of course, Shmoop sprinkles its magical, literary theory fairy dust over you.

01:34

And just like that, Ulysses makes perfect sense to you.

01:41

Well, okay, maybe not perfect sense. It turns out that, when theorists go online...

01:46

...they really loosen up and tell you what's on their minds.

01:51

It can verge on reality TV.

01:54

"Watch as Roland Barthes live blogs The Bachelorette!

01:57

When you mess with a rose, you get the thorns..."

02:01

"Check out the confidential logs from Freud's therapy sessions with his most famous clients!"

02:09

"See Judith Butler's picks for Top 5 Gender Bending Films!"

02:14

"Find out why Stanley Fish hates Volvos!

02:16

And why Stanley Volvo hates fish!"

02:21

"Listen as Foucault lists his "Top 8 Most-Hated Institutions!

02:25

See if your school made the list!"

02:28

Their stuff can be a little sensational sometimes...

02:32

...but it's frequently provocative...

02:37

...and almost always allows us - or forces us -

02:39

to see things differently than we might have otherwise.

02:42

Of course, that's just our theory...

Full Transcript