Ian McEwan, Scientist -Britannica Blog

Ian McEwan, Scientist -Britannica Blog: Here's what J.E. Luebering writes in the Britannica Blog about author Ian MacEwan's aversion to literary theory. I think the writer is seeking to earn cheap brownie points by rubbishing his own profession:

"That fact is at the core of a recent interview in The Australian with McEwan, the author most recently of the novel On Chesil Beach. But his reason for disliking criticism as it’s practiced in academia today is not that its language is repellent and dull or that it’s a waste of time to read (although he uses all of those words to characterize it).

"Instead, McEwan claims, the problem with literary theory is that its aspiration to be scientific is never fulfilled. [To quote him]:

"Me, I am a realist and materialist, and literary theory always struck me as
a fabulous waste of time, people wishing to import into their notions of the
world untested theories with no evidence, just a sort of smattering of
scientific vocabulary to give it some supposedly objective credibility."

So, what should we say about such a traitorous betrayal of literary theory. Are students, teachers, academics who push literary theory eggheads and dumbasses? Hardly, but that's my personal opinion.