The contingency of theory

For contemporary pragmatists, the study of literature supports the development of liberal, pluralist societies. As the product of multiple interpretive communities, works of literature promote cultural diversity, strengthen the expresssion of human agents' beliefs and values, and emphasize the ordinary rather than the theoretical context of interpretive practices. But what exactly is the relationship between pragmatism and theories of textuality in the literary disciplines? Pragmatists embrace the concept of textuality but do not concede that textuality changes anything about how we interpret literature in specific social contexts. Gary Wihl argues for the first time that theories of textuality contain an important expressivist philosophy of language that has been overlooked by pragmatists. According to Wihl, expressivism enriches the pragmatist concept of interpretive communities by focusing on forms of language that shape personhood and cultural value. Highly textual theories like deconstruction can refine and enhance the expressivist element in works of literature. Wihl offers the first direct comparison and synthesis of writings by Stanley Cavell, Paul de Man, Stanley Fish, and Charles Taylor. Brought together in this book, pragmatism, expressivism, and deconstruction restore the philosophical importance of literature by according it a formative role in the definition of human selves

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction, Philosophy. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.