Product Description

The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory is firmly established as a key work of reference in the complex and varied field of literary criticism. Now in its fourth edition, it remains the most comprehensive and accessible work of its kind, and is invaluable for student, teachers and general readers alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16444 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1024 pages

From the Publisher

Some sample entries:

FOLIO

(L folium, `leaf') Made by folding a printer's sheet once only, to form two folios or four pages. It also refers to editions of Shakespeare's plays published after his death: the First Folio appeared in 1623. There were three other in 1632, 1663 and 1685. See DUODECIMO; LEAF; OCTAVO; QUARTO.

SYLLOGISM

(Gk `reckoning together') Deduction, from two propositions containing three terms of which one appears in both, of a conclusion that is true if they are true. A stock example is: All men are mortal; Greeks are men; so all Greeks are mortal. `Men' is the middle term. `Mortal', the second term in the conclusion, is the major term and the premise in which it occurs is the major premise. `Greeks' is the minor term and its premise the minor premise.

THEATRICALISM

A concept and theory of dramatic presentation which developed in Russia and Germany in the early years of the 20th C. It was strongly opposed to naturalism (q.v.) and was in favour of the principle that theatre is theatre and is a representation of life - and is not life itself. Nevertheless, naturalistic drama (q.v.), like the well-made play (q.v.), has continued to be popular.

From the Back Cover
Some sample entries:

'Changga (K 'long poem'). A 'popular' Korean verse form, usually of ten or more lines or stanzas with refrains. A frequent theme was love'.

And:

Leitmotif (G Leitmotiv, 'leading motif'). A term coined by Hans von Wolzugen to designate a musical theme associated throughout a whole work with a particular object, charcater or emotion, as so often in Wagner's operas. Thomas Mann used it as a literary term to denote a recurrent theme (q.v) or unit. It is occasionally used as a literary term in the same sense that Mann intended, and also in a broader sense to refer to an author's favourite themes: for example, the hunted man and betrayal in the novels of Graham Greene'.

And:

'Maximum scene technique. A jargon term for stream of consciousness (q.v) technique'.

About the Author
J.A. Cuddon was a novelist, travel writer and academic. He died in 1996. The work of finishing off the fourth edition fell to C.E. Preston of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

Customer Reviews

A Must for Every Student of Literature
This book offers entries on the language of literature, literary criticsm and literary theory. For a very reasonable price, it offers a wealth of information and is simply a must for every student of literature.

Good dictionary of traditional critical vocabulary
This well-regarded book is best viewed solely as a dictionary of literary terms. It was originally published in 1977, immediately prior to the theoretical revolution in English studies, and subsequent attempts to extend its original remit to cover theory lack conviction. One notes immediately the absence of individual entries for major theorists (Derrida, Foucault, Barthes, Habermas, Gadamer, , Lacan, Saussure etc.) who have to be pursued under subject headings (Deconstruction, Structuralism, Linguistics), where their treatment is, to say the least, concise. Arguably the dictionary format is particularly ill-suited to the explication of theory, but even familar terms such as episteme are not granted an entry. The effect is to confirm the extent to which Anglo-American literary criticism had become disconnected from the wider philosophical context before 1980.

As a traditional dictionary of literary critical terminology, however, it is useful, wide-ranging,and is reasonably priced.

Wide-ranging overview
A good dictionary of literary terms, but by no means an introduction to theory. The scope is so vast that no one field is covered in encyclopedic depth: you'll find rhetorical figures such as "antiphora" (but not its synonyms "antipophora" or "hypophora") and the oft-overlooked "asteismus" (useful, but no examples), but not "diacope"; meanwhile, as another reviewer complained, contemporary literary theory is not given much space. The choice of entries sometimes seems idiosyncratic in its desire to be all-encompassing, particularly in dealing with literatures outside the English or Classical traditions (few readers will probably come to this book looking for "loa", "p'ing hua" or "rannaigheacht bheag"), but as concise explanations of the "generacion de 1898" are not so easy to come by, there's no reason to regret their presence here. On the whole, you can find more depth in a library, but it's a very convenient book to have on your shelf. (Refers to the 4th edition, 1998.)