The Chronicle: Colloquy: Responses

I personally feel the pull between literary studies and creative writing and am concerned about the current trend to dismantle creative writing by complicating it with theory. In some ways, the creative writing classroom preserves 'literature' more than the literary studies classroom, in which (sometimes, certainly not always) the theory looks for a way to squeeze the 'literature' (dare we call it 'art'?) into its mold. As a creative writer, I find the issue of genre an important one, and I find that my essays, usually the domain of the theorists, treat literature by responding with ... well, literature. It's possible to discuss the death of the author and the death of language's meaning, and it's possible to relate it all to patriarchy and sex, but when theorists sit down to write essays, or books, they themselves are authors, and I bet they enjoy the beauty of expressing their theories just as those of us who call ourselves writers enjoy telling our stories or creating imagery, &c. I have not answered the question.

: -- Laura Carter, graduate student (posted 3/14, 10:20 a.m., U.S. Eastern time)

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