--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Even in the act of fleeing modern…" description: "\"“Even in the act of fleeing modern ideologies, however, literary theory reveals its often unconscious complicity with them, betraying its elitism, sexi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a35/terry-eagleton-1660_authenticity_even-in-the-act-of-fleeing-modern-ideolo_2461121.png" --- # Even in the act of fleeing modern ideologies, however… ![“Even in the act of fleeing modern ideologies, however, literary theory reveals its often unconscious complicity with them, betraying its elitism, sexism or individualism in the very ‘aesthetic’ or ‘unpolitical’ language it finds natural to use of the literary text. It assumes, in the main, that at…” quote by Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a35/terry-eagleton-1660_authenticity_even-in-the-act-of-fleeing-modern-ideolo_2461121.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a35/terry-eagleton-1660_authenticity_even-in-the-act-of-fleeing-modern-ideolo_2461121.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a35/terry-eagleton-1660_authenticity_even-in-the-act-of-fleeing-modern-ideolo_2461121.png) > ““Even in the act of fleeing modern ideologies, however, literary theory reveals its often unconscious complicity with them, betraying its elitism, sexism or individualism in the very ‘aesthetic’ or ‘unpolitical’ language it finds natural to use of the literary text. It assumes, in the main, that at the centre of the world is the contemplative individual self, bowed over its book, striving to gain touch with experience, truth, reality, history or tradition. Other things matter too, of course — this individual is in personal relationship with others, and we are always much more than readers — but it is notable how often such individual consciousness, set in its small circle of relationships, ends up as the touchstone of all else. The further we move from the rich inwardness of the personal life, of which literature is the supreme exemplar, the more drab, mechanical and impersonal existence becomes. It is a view equivalent in the literary sphere to what has been called possessive individualism in the social realm, much as the former attitude may shudder at the latter: it reflects the values of a political system which subordinates the sociality of human life to solitary individual enterprise.”” [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage critiques how literary theory often unconsciously upholds dominant ideologies, emphasizing individualism over social context. **In simple terms:** Literary theory can hide its own biases, focusing on the self. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about neutrality in criticism. Themes elitism individualism ideology literary criticism social theory Mood critical reflective intellectual Type analytical philosophical theoretical When to use this quote - academic writing - book clubs - curriculum design Key Concepts subjectivity political economy cultural hegemony Questions to Reflect On - How does this view affect your reading of texts? - Can literature resist possessive individualism? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on the individual may ignore collective experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authenticity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authenticity/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Human life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Ideology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideology/) [Individualism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individualism/) [Literary theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-theory/) [Personal life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-life/) [Personal relationship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-relationship/) [Political system](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-system/) [Small Circle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-circle/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [So-called Individualism is the social and economic laissez-faire: the exploitation of the masses by the classes by means of legal trickery, spiritual debasement and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/so-called-individualism-is-the-social-and-economic-laissez-faire-the/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [It is a pity that...the majority of feminists and their allies have stuck to the dead ground of "Me Decade" possessive individualism, an ideology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-is-a-pity-that-the-majority-of-feminists-and-their-allies-have/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [What was needed was a literary theory which, while preserving the formalist bent of New Criticism, its dogged attention to literature as aesthetic object…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/what-was-needed-was-a-literary-theory-which-while-preserving-the/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“There is, in fact, no need to drag politics into literary theory: as with South African sport, it has been there from the beginning.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/there-is-in-fact-no-need-to-drag-politics-into-literary-theory-as/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Any attempt to define literary theory in terms of a distinctive method is doomed to failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/any-attempt-to-define-literary-theory-in-terms-of-a-distinctive/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [I do not know whether to be delighted or outraged by the fact that Literary Theory: An Introduction was the subject of a study…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/i-do-not-know-whether-to-be-delighted-or-outraged-by-the-fact-that/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [If the masses are not thrown a few novels , they may react by throwing up a few barricades.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/if-the-masses-are-not-thrown-a-few-novels-they-may-react-by-throwing/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“Inez and I had been in the same book club for a while. She once told me that literary theory was reading without imagination,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/inez-and-i-had-been-in-the-same-book-club-for-a-while-she-once-told/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [I read a lot of literary theory when I was in graduate school, especially about novels, and the best book I ever read about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/i-read-a-lot-of-literary-theory-when-i-was-in-graduate-school/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [Literary theories will not make a writer write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-wier/literary-theories-will-not-make-a-writer-write/) Allen Wier > [“To the jaded eye, all vampires seem alike, but they are wonderful in their versatility. Some come to life in moonlight, others are killed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-auerbach/to-the-jaded-eye-all-vampires-seem-alike-but-they-are-wonderful-in/) Nina Auerbach > [“It doesn't matter whether a sequence of words is called a history or a story: that is, whether it is intended to follow a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northrop-frye/it-doesn-t-matter-whether-a-sequence-of-words-is-called-a-history-or/) [Northrop Frye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northrop-frye/) > [“The literary text seems like "a fortified medieval town –foreigners and outsiders are repelled, or allowed in only after rigorous checks, but within all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-hawthorn/the-literary-text-seems-like-a-fortified-medieval-town-foreigners-and/) Jeremy Hawthorn > [“The ambition of much of today's literary theory seems to be to find ways to read literature without imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/the-ambition-of-much-of-today-s-literary-theory-seems-to-be-to-find/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [Literary theory has become a parody of science, generating its own arcane jargon. 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For if the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/all-propaganda-or-popularization-involves-a-putting-of-the-complex/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [God chose what is weakest in the world to shame the strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/god-chose-what-is-weakest-in-the-world-to-shame-the-strong/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Reading is not a straightforward linear movement, a merely cumulative affair: our initial speculations generate a frame of reference within which to interpret what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/reading-is-not-a-straightforward-linear-movement-a-merely-cumulative/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“What it means to be a ‘better person’, then, must be concrete and practical — that is to say, concerned with people’s political situations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/what-it-means-to-be-a-better-person-then-must-be-concrete-and/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“What we consume now is not objects or events, but our experience of them. 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Civilisation means rational reflection, material wellbeing, individual autonomy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/we-face-a-conflict-between-civilisation-and-culture-which-used-to-be/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) [Explore all 215 Terry Eagleton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) ## More Authenticity quotes > [“the property that grounded the self in Romanticism was sincerity, and in modernism was authenticity, then in postmod ernism it is visibility.10”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-property-that-grounded-the-self-in-romanticism-was-sincerity-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [Every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/every-genuine-expression-of-love-grows-out-of-a-consistent-and-total/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Real artists offer authenticity, not just money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhymefest/real-artists-offer-authenticity-not-just-money/) [Rhymefest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhymefest/) > [“I figure the more people think I'm just mildly weird, the less likely they are to know how weird I really am.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-hooyenga/i-figure-the-more-people-think-i-m-just-mildly-weird-the-less-likely/) Melanie Hooyenga > [I think people can read authenticity and they know when you're involved and when you're just slapping your name on something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/la-la-anthony/i-think-people-can-read-authenticity-and-they-know-when-you-re/) [La La Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/la-la-anthony/) > [“I strive for authenticity even though it brings with it vulnerability and the inevitable judgment of others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-r-w-lee/i-strive-for-authenticity-even-though-it-brings-with-it-vulnerability/) [L.R.W. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-r-w-lee/) > [Children go where they find sincerity and authenticity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-cantona/children-go-where-they-find-sincerity-and-authenticity/) [Eric Cantona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-cantona/) > [Accepting the reality of our sinfulness means accepting our authentic self. Judas could not face his shadow; Peter could. 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