The theory 'revolution' has had real effects. It has loosened the grip
of traditional empiricist and romantic assumptions about language and
literature. It is not always clear what is being proposed as the new
agenda for literary studies, and indeed the very notion of 'literature' is
questioned by the post-structuralist strain in theory. However, the
uncertainties and obscurities of contemporary theories appear much less
worrying when we see what the best critics have been able to do with
them in practice. This series aims to disseminate the best of recent
criticism and to show that it is possible to re-read the canonical texts of
literature in new and challenging ways.

RAMAN SELDEN AND STAN SMITH

The Publishers and fellow Series Editor regret to record that Raman
Selden died after a short illness in May 1991 at the age of fifty-three.
Ray Selden was a fine scholar and a lovely man. All those he has
worked with will remember him with much affection and respect.

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