Suggests an approach to literature (derived from post-structuralism and deconstructionism) which goes beyond the concept of "teacher as authority," without totally abandoning form or structure. Demonstrates this approach in a discussion of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" and Philip Larkin's poem "High…

Argues that students and teachers of literature should begin the study of literary texts with the emotional immediacies and humanistic sympathies that the texts evoke, rather than with an examination of literary critical theories. (MM)