Literary Theory: An Introduction
List Price: $18.50Amazon.com's Price: $11.85
You Save: $6.65 (36%)as of 03/18/2010 12:39 EDT Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 801.95
EAN: 9780816654475
Edition: 3
ISBN: 0816654476
Label: Univ Of Minnesota Press
Manufacturer: Univ Of Minnesota Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: April 02, 2008
Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press
Studio: Univ Of Minnesota Press
Related Items:
Alternate Versions: Click to Display
Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display
Editorial Review:Product Description:“This concise and lucid volume offers a satisfying survey of all the major theories, from structuralism in the 1960s to deconstruction today, that have made academic criticism both intriguing and off-putting to the outsider.” âNew York Times Book Review
“Literary Theory has the kind of racy readability that one associates more often with English critics who have set their faces resolutely against theory. It’s not just a brilliant polemical essay; it’s also a remarkable feat of condensation, explication, and synthesis.” âSunday Times (London)
“A concise guide to the most interesting and mystifying trends in the study of literature over the last fifty years.” âThe Nation
This classic work covers all of the major movements in literary studies in this century. Noted for its clear, engaging style and unpretentious treatment, Literary Theory has become the introduction of choice for anyone interested in learning about the world of contemporary literary thought.
On the twenty-fifth anniversary of Literary Theory’s debut, Terry Eagleton reflects on the state of theory in academia today, the growth of antitheory (itself an interesting theoretical subject), its common-if problematic-place among survey coursework, and theory’s continued relevance to scholarly pursuits. In this contemporary, retrospective moment, as scholars critically analyze the incredibly broad impact of the theoretical movement, Literary Theory remains an essential initiation to the intellectually stimulating world of theoretical analysis.
Terry Eagleton is John Edward Taylor professor of English literature at the University of Manchester. His numerous books include The Meaning of Life, How to Read a Poem, and After Theory.
Average Rating:
Rating:
-
I like Eagelton. Intelligent, erudite, mildly condescending. Good people. And here is a concise, insightful introduction to the field of literary theory. This should provide a good overview of the field to anyone with interest, who lacks the funds or the bookshelf space for much weightier anthologies. Eagleton renders potentially challenging concepts in accessible prose and places the major developments in the field, from the rise of English as a discrete discipline (tied to post-War nationalism and decline in religious belief) to post-structuralism, psychoanalysis, and political criticism, within their historical contexts. My one minor gripe with the book is that it wears its Marxism on its sleeve a little too heavily. Each of the theorists discussed seems implicitly criticized for not being politically subversive (read Marxist) enough, and for somehow supporting the dominant social order. It seems to me any political system (or, as Northrop Frye might say, secular religion) based on Enlightenment thought that participates in the same modern language system, and therefore the same level of consciousness, as all the others, is really just a different corner of the same playing field. But then, that statement is probably not Marxist enough. And so, each ideology tries to swallow the other and we are back at square one. You get the sense, at this level of writing, each theorist could just as easily give a trivialized rendering of another theorist's point of view and treat it, if not dismissively, then with some implicit condescendsion. In spite of the polemic, however, Eagleton is knowledgeable, witty, and the book is (dare I say it?) fun. It is an older work (1982) but has since been republished with an afterword charting some developments since its original release. Recommended.
Rating:
-
Reasonable price, shipped quickly. However, I cannot attest to the contest of the book. I bought it for my Lit. class about a month and a half ago, and we haven't even opened it. The class sucks.
Rating:
-
Those new to the subject of literary theory will find this book both a resource rich with historical tributaries to explore as well as a welcoming invitation to the practice. Eagleton offers an excellent overview providing any number of handles with which a novice might take hold of the scholarly exploration of English and thereby develop his or her own personal method of inquiry. Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, Reception Theory, Structuralism, Semiotics, Post-Structuralism, and Psychoanalysis are the main areas of focus. The writing is clear and at times quite funny.
Rating:
-
Terry Eagleton's "Literary Theory" has been a most useful book to me. It has helped me make sense of a variety of theories--including the opacity of post-structuralism, the fertile ground where Jacques Derrida and deconstruction reigned. And since he concludes that literature has a political purpose, the book speaks to me as a student of politics.
Why a book on a theory of literature? He notes (Page viii): ". . .without some kind of theory, however unreflective and implicit, we would not know what a `literary work' was in the first place, or how we were to read it. Hostility to theory usually means an opposition to other people's theories and an oblivion to one's own. One purpose of this book is to lift that repression and allow us to remember." Next question: What is literature? What, exactly, is the subject matter of literary theory? After some discussion, he settles on (Page 10) ". . .'literature' is a highly valued kind of writing. . . ." Hmm. That, as Eagleton recognizes, means that what is literary may change over history, since "value judgments [of a highly valued kind of writing] are notoriously variable." What is valued at one point in time in a culture may be regarded as trash at another point. Hence, there is instability in our understanding of literature.
As one illustration, he considers "The rise of English" (the title of Chapter 1). In the 18th century, he argues, what was deemed literary had a clearly ideological element to it. He observes (Page 17): "The criteria of what counted as literature. . .were frankly ideological: writing which embodied the values and taste of a particular social class qualified as literature. . . ." He traces English literary theory up to the recent era in this chapter.
Following, he describes a series of theoretical views used to analyze and examine literature. Some of these are straightforward, whereas others are more complex and difficult. Chapter 2 considers phenomenology, hermeneutics, and reception theory. Chapter 3 follows with an exploration of structuralism and semiotics. Chapter 4? Post-structuralism and the work of Jacques Derrida are featured here. Let not the faint-hearted enter this realm! However, as already noted, this chapter was very valuable to me as I tried to grapple with the work of this genre of criticism, and Eagleton's effort provided an entrée for me into this difficult literature. Then, in Chapter 5, psychoanalysis. Finally, the Conclusion once more refocuses on the political side of literature and literary criticism. As Eagleton comments at the outset of the chapter (Page 195): ". . .the great majority of the literary theories outlined in this book have strengthened rather than challenged the assumptions of the power system. . . ." One might note, in this regard, his discussion of Gadamer's hermeneutics in the chapter featuring that literary perspective.
All in all, for someone wanting to get a decent introduction into literary criticism and the theories thereof, this serves well. It is sometimes a bit slow going, given the nature of some of the theories addressed, but it provides a literate introduction to literary theory.
Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.
