Literary Theory and Criticism

An Oxford Guide

Patricia Waugh

Fills a large gap in the market by combining the accessibility of single-authored narratives with a much broader range of critical perspectives.
Offers a comprehensive account of the major movements and thinkers in modern literary criticism.
Presents modern theory and criticism as part of an ongoing historical and intellectual tradition.
Part Four offers suggestions and evaluations of possible future directions and debates.

Literary Theory and Criticism

An Oxford Guide

Patricia Waugh

Description

Edited by Patricia Waugh, this comprehensive guide to literary theory and criticism includes 39 specially commissioned chapters by an outstanding international team of academics. The volume is divided into four parts. Part One covers the key philosophical and aesthetic origins of literary theory, Part Two looks at the foundational movements and thinkers in the first half of the twentieth century, Part Three offers introductory overviews of the most important movements and thinkers in modern literary theory and Part Four looks at emergent trends and future directions.

Literary Theory and Criticism

An Oxford Guide

Patricia Waugh

Introduction: criticism, theory, and anti-theory, Patricia Waugh
Part I Concepts of criticism and aesthetic origins
1:Mimesis: ancient Greek literary theory, Ann Nightingale
2:Expressivity: the Romantic theory of authorship, Andrew Bennett
3:Interpretation: hermeneutics, Timothy Clark
4:Value: criticism, canons, and evaluation, Patricia Waugh
Part II Criticism and critical practices in the twentieth century
5:Literature and the academy, Chris Baldick
6:I. A. Richards, Ann Banfield
7:T. S. Eliot and the idea of tradition, Gareth Reeves
8:Anthropology, myth, and modern criticism, Michael Bell
9:F. R. Leavis: criticism and culture, Gary Day
10:Marxist aesthetics, Tony Davies
11:William Empson: from verbal analysis to cultural criticism, David Fuller
12:The New Criticism, Stephen Matterson
13:The intentional fallacy, Peter Lamarque
14:Adorno and the Frankfurt School, Andrew Bowie
15:Freud and psychoanalysis, Celine Surprenant
16:The Russian debate on narrative, Gary Saul Morson
17:Bakhtin and dialogics, Lynne Pearce
18:Form, rhetoric, and intellectual history, Faiza W. Shereen
19:Literature into culture: cultural studies after Leavis, Glenn Jordan and Chris Weedon
Part III Literary theory: movements and schools
20:Structuralism and narrative poetics, Susana Onega
21:Psychoanalysis after Freud, Josiane Paccaud-Huguet
22:Deconstruction, Alex Thompson
23:Feminisms, Fiona Tolann
24:Postcolonialism, Elleke Boehmer
25:Race, nation, and ethnicity, Kathleen Kerr
26:Reconstructing historicism, Paul Hamilton
27:Postmodernism, Chris Snipp-Walmsley
28:Sexualities, Tony Purvis
29:Science and criticism: beyond the culture wars, Christopher Norris
Part IV Futures and retrospects
30:Performing literary interpretation, K. M. Newton
31:The responsibilities of the writer, Sean Burke
32:Mixing memory and desire: psychoanalysis, psychology, and trauma theory, Roger Luckhurst
33:Theories of the gaze, Jeremy Hawthorn
34:Anti-canon theory, David Punter
35:Environmentalism and ecocriticism, Richard Kerridge
36:Cognitive literary criticism, Alan Richardson
37:Writing excess: the poetic principle of post-literary culture, Scott Wilson
Index

Literary Theory and Criticism

An Oxford Guide

Patricia Waugh

Author Information

Patricia Waugh, Patricia Waugh is Professor of English at the University of Durham

Contributors:

Professor Andrea Nightingale, Stanford University
Professor Patricia Waugh, University of Durham
Professor Andrew Bennett, University of Bristol
Dr Timothy Clark, University of Durham
Professor Chris Baldick, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Dr Gareth Reeves, University of Durham
Dr Gary Day, De Montford University
Professor Michael Ball, University of Warwick
Dr Celine Surprenant, University of Sussex
Dr Laura Marcus, University of Sussex
Professor Andrew Bowie, Royal Holloway, University of London
Professor Tony Davies, University of Birmingham
Professor Glenn Jordan, University of Cardiff
Professor Ann Banfield, University of California, Berkeley
Professor Stephen Matterson, Trinity College, Dublin
Professor David Fuller, University of Durham
Professor Gary Saul Morson, Northwestern University
Professor Peter Lamarque, University of York
Professor Faiza Shereen, University of Dayton
Professor Lynne Pearce, University of Lancaster
Professor Chris Kennedy, University of Birmingham
Professor Susana Onega, University of Zaragoza
Dr Alex Thomson, University of Glasgow
Ms Fiona Tolan, University of Durham
Tony Purvis, University of Sunderland
Professor P. W. A. Hamilton, Queen Mary College, University of London
Professor Elleke Boehmer, Nottingham Trent University
Dr Kathy Kerr, Sunderland University
Dr Josiane Paacaud-Huguet, University of Lyon
Dr Chris Snipp-Warmsley, University of Singapore
Professor Richard Kerridge, Bath Spa University College
Professor Alan Richardson, Boston College
Professor Christopher Norris, Cardiff University
Professor Jeremy Hawthorn, Norway
Dr Roger Luckhurst, Birkbeck College, University of London
Dr Sean Burke, University of Durham
Professor David Punter, University of Bristol
Professor Scott Wilson, University of Lancaster
Professor Ken Newton, University of Dundee

Literary Theory and Criticism

An Oxford Guide

Patricia Waugh

Reviews and Awards

"The quality of essays is consistently high, with outstanding contributions by Timothy Clark on hermeneutics, Chris Baldick on criticism and the academy, Chris Snipp-Walmsley on post-modernism, and Sean Burke on the responsibilities of the writer." - THES