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Feminist Literary Theory
The Cambridge Companion to Feminist Literary Theory by Ellen Rooney (Editor)
Feminism has dramatically influenced the way literary texts are read, taught and evaluated. Feminist literary theory has deliberately transgressed traditional boundaries between literature, philosophy and the social sciences in order to understand how gender has been constructed and represented through language. This lively and thought-provoking Companion presents a range of approaches to the field. Some of the essays demonstrate feminist critical principles at work in analysing texts, while others take a step back to trace the development of a particular feminist literary method. The essays draw on a range of primary material from the medieval period to postmodernism and from several countries, disciplines and genres. Each essay suggests further reading to explore this field further. This is the most accessible guide available both for students of literature new to this developing field, and for students of gender studies and readers interested in the interactions of feminism, literary criticism and literature.
Publication Date: 2006
Feminist Theory and Literacy Practice by Deborah L. Madsen
This book is an exploration of women's writing that focuses on the close links between literary texts and the theories that construct those texts as 'women's writing'. Each chapter deals with one of the issues or concepts that have engaged both authors and theorists - rhetoric, work, consciousness, nature, class and race. A detailed analysis shows how each concept has been used by feminists to construct a specific text in such a way that it is received as a work of 'women's writing', particularly in American literature.Using canonical texts, from Charlotte Perkins Gilman through Kate Chopin and Willa Cather to Alice Walker and Ann Beattie, Madsen engages with the major debates within feminist studies. Moving on from Showalter's groundbreaking work to broaden the trajectory of feminist concern, this book is an accessible account of the varieties of feminist thought within the context of the key American texts.
Publication Date: 2000
The Politics of the Essay by Ruth-Ellen B. Joeres (Editor); Elizabeth Mittman (Editor)
"#157;The Politics of the Essay is that rare scholarly work that provides both a history of this relatively new field and of its formal characteristics and inspires its readers to want to participate in the making of this history." --Signs The first in-depth study of the relationship between women and essays. Employing gender, race, class, and national identity as axes of analysis, this volume introduces new perspectives into what has been a largely apolitical discussion of the essay. Includes an original essay by Susan Griffin.
Publication Date: 1993
The Mirror and the Killer-Queen: Otherness in Literary Lanugage by Gabriele Schwab
"The book not only confirms the high ethical stakes in informed contemporary reading; it offers a rare readerly pleasure in... exploring the wider cultural significance of gender and the body and their narrative representation." Henry Sussman, SUNY-Buffalo Gabriele Schwab revitalizes debates about literature s cultural function by exploring literary experience as an encounter with otherness. Drawing on literary theory, anthropology, and psychoanalysis, Schwab contends that literature facilitates contact with cultures that may seem foreign to us. At the same time, literature can render the familiar strange, and foreground what a culture tends to repress. At its best, literature challenges the very boundaries of the culture from which it emerges. Schwab s readings of writers such as Hawthorne, Faulkner, Joyce, Lewis Carroll, Djuna Barnes, Marguerite Duras, and John Cage demonstrate the centrality of aesthetics and the literary to studies of otherness and cultural contact."
Publication Date: 1996
General Literary Theory
Literary Theory: The Basics by Johannes Willem Bertens
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.
Publication Date: 2001
Literary Theory by Terry Eagleton
"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." --New 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." --Sunday Times (London) "A concise guide to the most interesting and mystifying trends in the study of literature over the last fifty years." --The 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.
Publication Date: 2008
Postmodern Literary Theory: An Anthology by Niall Lucy (Editor)
Literature today is a very different concept from that of only a generation ago, and this difference is attributed usually to 'postmodernism'. Most radical of all is the possibility that the very notion of literature is rendered untenable by postmodernism. How did this possibility arise? Who are the key figures responsible for its emergence; which are the key texts of its expression? This Anthology provides ways of responding to such questions.
ISBN: 0631210288
Publication Date: 2000
Twentieth-Century Literary Theory by Vassilis Lambropoulos (Editor); David Neal Miller (Editor)
The ten topics contained in Twentieth-Century Literary Theory reflect contemporary theoretical interests and guide the reader through fundamental questions, from the formation to the uses of theory, and from the construction to the interpretation of literature. The selected essays cover a wealth of scholarship from both the United States and Europe. They go beyond traditional categories by focusing on issues rather than writers or critical movements, thus providing a forum for the continuing discussion of what theory is and does.
Publication Date: 1987
The Cambridge Companion to Feminist Literary Theory by
Feminism has dramatically influenced the way literary texts are read, taught and evaluated. Feminist literary theory has deliberately transgressed traditional boundaries between literature, philosophy and the social sciences in order to understand how gender has been constructed and represented through language. This lively and thought-provoking Companion presents a range of approaches to the field. Some of the essays demonstrate feminist critical principles at work in analysing texts, while others take a step back to trace the development of a particular feminist literary method. The essays draw on a range of primary material from the medieval period to postmodernism and from several countries, disciplines and genres. Each essay suggests further reading to explore this field further. This is the most accessible guide available both for students of literature new to this developing field, and for students of gender studies and readers interested in the interactions of feminism, literary criticism and literature.
Feminist Theory and Literacy Practice by
This book is an exploration of women's writing that focuses on the close links between literary texts and the theories that construct those texts as 'women's writing'. Each chapter deals with one of the issues or concepts that have engaged both authors and theorists - rhetoric, work, consciousness, nature, class and race. A detailed analysis shows how each concept has been used by feminists to construct a specific text in such a way that it is received as a work of 'women's writing', particularly in American literature.Using canonical texts, from Charlotte Perkins Gilman through Kate Chopin and Willa Cather to Alice Walker and Ann Beattie, Madsen engages with the major debates within feminist studies. Moving on from Showalter's groundbreaking work to broaden the trajectory of feminist concern, this book is an accessible account of the varieties of feminist thought within the context of the key American texts.
The Sounds of Feminist Theory by
Reads a wide range of contemporary feminist theorists to show how they invest in sound as a medium of critical thought.
The Mirror and the Killer-Queen: Otherness in Literary Lanugage by
"The book not only confirms the high ethical stakes in informed contemporary reading; it offers a rare readerly pleasure in... exploring the wider cultural significance of gender and the body and their narrative representation." Henry Sussman, SUNY-Buffalo Gabriele Schwab revitalizes debates about literature s cultural function by exploring literary experience as an encounter with otherness. Drawing on literary theory, anthropology, and psychoanalysis, Schwab contends that literature facilitates contact with cultures that may seem foreign to us. At the same time, literature can render the familiar strange, and foreground what a culture tends to repress. At its best, literature challenges the very boundaries of the culture from which it emerges. Schwab s readings of writers such as Hawthorne, Faulkner, Joyce, Lewis Carroll, Djuna Barnes, Marguerite Duras, and John Cage demonstrate the centrality of aesthetics and the literary to studies of otherness and cultural contact."
Literary Theory: The Basics by
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.
Literary Theory by
"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." --New 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." --Sunday Times (London) "A concise guide to the most interesting and mystifying trends in the study of literature over the last fifty years." --The 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.
Postmodern Literary Theory: An Anthology by
Literature today is a very different concept from that of only a generation ago, and this difference is attributed usually to 'postmodernism'. Most radical of all is the possibility that the very notion of literature is rendered untenable by postmodernism. How did this possibility arise? Who are the key figures responsible for its emergence; which are the key texts of its expression? This Anthology provides ways of responding to such questions.
Twentieth-Century Literary Theory by
The ten topics contained in Twentieth-Century Literary Theory reflect contemporary theoretical interests and guide the reader through fundamental questions, from the formation to the uses of theory, and from the construction to the interpretation of literature. The selected essays cover a wealth of scholarship from both the United States and Europe. They go beyond traditional categories by focusing on issues rather than writers or critical movements, thus providing a forum for the continuing discussion of what theory is and does.