Book Information

Literary Theory: An Introduction

Anniversary Edition

Second Edition

By: Terry Eagleton (University of Manchester)

Reviews

Praise for the First Edition of Literary Theory "Literary Theory has the kind of racy readability that one associates more often with English c...

Description

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

TopTable of Contents

Preface to the Anniversary Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the First Edition
Introduction: What is Literature?
1. The Rise of English
2. Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, Reception Theory
3. Structuralism and Semiotics
4. Post-Structuralism
5. Psychoanalysis
Conclusion: Political Criticism
Afterword
Notes
Bibliography
Index

TopAbout the Author

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.