Literary Theory: An Introduction

Front Cover
John Wiley & Sons, Nov 30, 2011 - Literary Criticism - 256 pages
A quarter of a century on from its original publication, Literary Theory: An Introduction still conjures the subversion, excitement and exoticism that characterized theory through the 1960s and 70s, when it posed an unprecedented challenge to the literary establishment. Eagleton has added a new preface to this anniversary edition to address more recent developments in literary studies, including what he describes as “the growth of a kind of anti-theory”, and the idea that literary theory has been institutionalized. Insightful and enlightening, Literary Theory: An Introduction remains the essential guide to the field.

  • 25th Anniversary Edition of Terry Eagleton’s classic introduction to literary theory
  • First published in 1983, and revised in 1996 to include material on developments in feminist and cultural theory
  • Has served as an inspiration to generations of students and teachers
  • Continues to function as arguably the definitive undergraduate textbook on literary theory
  • Reissue includes a new foreword by Eagleton himself, reflecting on the impact and enduring success of the book, and on developments in literary theory since it was first published
 

Contents

What is Literature?
1
The Rise of English
15
Phenomenology Hermeneutics Reception Theory
47
Structuralism and Semiotics
79
PostStructuralism
110
Psychoanalysis
131
Political Criticism
169
Afterword
190
Notes
209
Bibliography
217
Index
224
Copyright

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About the author (2011)

Terry Eagleton is John Edward Taylor Professor of English Literature at the University of Manchester. His recent publications include How to Read a Poem (2006), The English Novel (2004), Sweet Violence: The Idea of the Tragic (2003), The Idea of Culture (2000), Scholars and Rebels in Nineteenth-Century Ireland (1999), and The Illusions of Postmodernism (1996), all published by Blackwell Publishing.

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