(from harangue by literary theory prof)
If you want to change the world, you have to know the way the world works. One might ask what the purpose of literary theory is, and some large part of it is to 'lay bare the device' - to understand and make clear what makes literature what it is. As intangible as that sounds, many have put their lives on the line for the theory they had created, and died for it. Why were the Soviets afraid of the Russian Formalist's new theories - why were they all disappeared or executed? Because they were not only able to lay bare the device of literature - with their theory and through the literature they could lay bare the device of culture. Literary theory is the essence of revolution in some ways, as it is one of the few ways of advancing society that does not just serve the established hierarchies of class and society, but is instead constantly battling itself in culture wars against those within its own ranks who would hold it back to progress forward. As more people understand that forwardly progressing theory (on whatever level) or are affected by it the paradigm of a country's unconscious can change. And hopefully the forward progression of that theory can be maintained in the face of those in favor of stagnancy.