After the so-called “end of the great narratives” – according to someone synonymous with the sunset of modernity – the theoretical frameworks founded on the concept of totality have given way to a ...

Bringing together Mary Klages's bestselling introductory books Literary Theory: A Guide for the Perplexed and Key Terms in Literary Theory into one fully integrated and substantially revised, expanded ...

One of the momentous developments in criticism in the past two decades has been the revival of the historical method as a way of studying literature, the arts, and the world of ideas. Scholars who ...

The subject was dirt, or perhaps I should say “Dirt.” It was spring 1996, and I was a newly minted comp-lit Ph.D. candidate thrilled to be taking part in my first academic conference. Okay, it was a ...

‘GESTALT’ is a German word which literally means ‘form’ or ‘shape’ and in psychology it is used to denote “an organised whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts”, says the Concise ...

University of Oklahoma English professor Leitch (American Literary Criticism Since the 1930s, 2nd edition) offers a spirited defense of literary theory. Defying those who feel criticism is in a ...

Anyone who has taught a college literature course has likely heard a student say, “Can’t I just enjoy the book?” This frustration with literary theory is common. Many undergraduates feel that theory ...

Fredric Jameson, professor of romance studies, Knut Schmidt Nielsen distinguished professor of comparative literature and director of the Institute for Critical Theory, is remembered for his ...