phenomenology
...ese philosophies are so abstract, perhaps breaking it down will help. The word “phenomenon” is defined by the Webster’s Dictionary as “an observable fact or event” (Webster’s, 551). In other words, phenomenon is anything that we (people) are aware exists through active observation of any of the senses. It isn’t quite that simple though. Phenomenology goes a bit further. Eagleton explains that “the idea that the objects which we perceive are not “just there”, but rather are “intended by our consciousness”(48). In other words, experiences are created by the fact that we understand their existence. Eagleton states that “to grasp a phenomenon is to grasp what is essential and unchanging about it”(48). For example, a bed is a bed because you sleep in it. Music is music because it is simply sound that the ear can perceive. That will never be untrue of music. Therefore phenomenology would ignore the historical or societal environment that the music was created in, or anything that would make the idea of music change from one person to another, and focus on the essence of music itself. This is where phenomenology enters the realm of literature. In his book Literary Theory, Eagleton applies phenomenology to literary interpretation. He states that when we think of things in our mind, there is a massive flux of unorganized thought, a “chaotic stream of consciousness” (48). This can only lead to confusion. One thought inevitably leads to others that are outside of our immediate experience. These kinds of thoughts are not universal or general enough from a phenomenological standpoint. Phenomenology is thinking about something until it is constant or cannot change. Knowledge existing independently from the literature being read, can similarly hinder one’s ability to fully study and understand the consciousness of the author. In the phenomenological criticism of literature, Eagleton explains that the “text is reduced to a pure embodiment of the author’s consciousness”(5...