An Interview with Professor Deidre Lynch about "Love of Literature"

Professor Deidre Lynch from the Department of English at Harvard University published a chapter entitled “Love of Literature” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Literary Theory in 2022. During the author’s visiting scholarship at the Department of English at Harvard from 2022 to 2023, an interview was conducted with Professor Lynch focusing on this chapter, exploring the role of “love of literature” in literary studies. Lynch discusses the continuity between her 2015 book Loving Literature: A Cultural History and her 2022 chapter in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Literary Theory, emphasizing her long-term focus on the historical evolution of literary affections, which originated from classroom interactions, particularly teaching Jane Austen. She critiques the misleading dichotomy between literary theorists and “literature lovers,” arguing that affective engagement has always been central to literary scholarship and teaching. The interview delves into the “affective turn,” “return to aesthetics,” and their connections to the “ethical turn” in Western literary theory in the 21st century, noting parallels with developments in Chinese literary theory. Lynch highlights how literary affections intersect with intersectional politics, enabling social changes through shared literary experiences. Through tracing back to the 18th-century structural transformation in reader-text relationships, which privatized literary intimacy, Lynch offers insights on the value of literary studies in contemporary education of humanities amid global challenges.