Literary Theory

What is Literary Theory? Is there a relationship between literature and culture? In fact, what is Literature, and does it matter? These are the sorts of questions addressed by Jonathan Culler in a book which steers a clear path through a subject which is often perceived to be impenetrable. It offers insights into theories about the nature of language and meaning, whether literature is a form of self-expression or a method of appeal to an audience, and outlines the ideas behind a number of different schools: deconstruction, semiotics, postcolonial theory, and structuralism amongst them.

Tackling literary theory for the first time can seem a daunting task, it but it can be rewarding. This accessible guide provides the ideal first step in understanding theory, as the author:
-- leads you through the major approaches to literature which are signaled by the term "literary theory"
-- places each critical movement in its historical (and often political) context
-- illustrates theory in practice with examples from much-read texts
-- suggests further reading for those especially interested in a particular critical approaches
-- shows not only that theory can make sense but that it can radically change the way you read.

Covering all the basics and much more, this is the ideal book for anyone interested in how we read and why that matters.

A debate on the politics of theory is being conducted within literary studies. What is meant by politics? What is meant by theory? What's Left of Theory? is a vigorous engagement with the question : how today are theory and progressive thought connected? This book brings together not only outstanding questioners, but outstanding questions.

Dowling aspires to a double goal: to approach the problem of determinate meaning in literature from a new angle; and to introduce the work of J.J. Katz to those in literary theory who have heard about his New Intensionalism but have also heard that is was too technical for anyone not working directly in logic or linguistics. Well OK, he admits, the two things are really the same.

Robert Matz analyzes the defense of literature in Renaissance England in the context of social transformations of the period, particularly those affecting the aristocracy as it evolved from a feudal warrior class to a civil elite. Through close readings centered on works by Thomas Elyot, Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser, Matz argues that literature attempted to mediate a complex set of contradictory social expectations. His original study engages with important theoretical work such as Pierre Bourdieu's and offers a substantial critique of New Historicist theory.