ABSTRACT
Theory is ‘difficult’; teaching theory is perhaps more so; and, for some, teaching ‘literature’ through a reading inflected in the language of theory is virtually impossible. The frequency with which one hears the suggestion that ‘this stuff just cannot be taught’ is surprising, in a profession where the development of strategies for ‘teaching’ unfamiliar materials is essential. To say that theory is so difficult that it cannot be taught is, of course, either simply stupid and unprofessional, or (much more likely) it is a tacit strategy in a theoretical position which does not wish its own theoretical assumptions to be exposed and discussed.
