Terry Eagleton's Literary Theory: An Introduction is a deep dive into literary theory in order to define literature. He holds nothing back in terms of the personal, but his personal perspective is inherently rooted in intellectualism. This is a recipe for a curious blend of high and low art. In Eagleton's analysis, the reader is the ultimate authority in the definition of literature, but he approaches this idea through a rigorous assessment of literary criticism according to popular theories throughout history.
To Eagleton, psychology and linguistics are the stepping stones for literature. A discussion of the definition of literature relies upon a thorough examination of the human mind's preference for expressing itself through language. This avenue takes Eagleton on a minor tangent, causing him to build a discussion from romanticism all the way to post-structuralism with inserts of popular demand. In a way, Eagleton appeals to fringe minority opinion in order to invent a more dramatic divide between his own educated (elite) assessment of literary theory and the average westerner's objection to intellectualism.
In the end, Eagleton gets hung up on subjectivity. He concludes that the definition of literature is impossible because the reader makes the call, making it a necessarily individual decision. By allowing the reader to treat their own interaction with a book as the final metamorphosis of language, the writer relinquishes a certain amount of control over their own communication. This is Eagleton's personal interpretation of literature, which remains one of a multiplicity of perspectives which have evolved alongside culture and science throughout history.
