Product 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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13000 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
"This book shaped the reception of theory in Britain for a generation." Times Higher Education Supplement

Praise for the First Edition of Literary Theory

“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 ... Stimulating and entertaining.”
Sunday Times

“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

“A polemical, amusing and very informative introduction ... indispensable.”
Jonathan Culler

"The best handbook to those arcane ics and isms, both for academy members and for any civilians who, having heard the distant roar of professorial cannons, might wonder what the skirmishing is about."
Voice Literary Supplement

From the Back Cover
First published in 1983, Literary Theory: An Introduction is probably the best–selling work of literary criticism in the world today. It propelled its author to a position of such influence and controversy within the British academy that even Prince Charles once described him as “that dreadful Terry Eagleton”.

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. Contemporary readers seeking to understand what literature is and what it is for will be inspired and entertained by Eagleton’s deft synopses of the major movements in literary studies in the twentieth century.

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.

About 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.

Customer Reviews

No better guide for Literary Theory.
Though it's been a while since I was at Uni I still clearly remember how awful the prospect of studying Lit Theory was. Not only were the lectures dull, most of it hardly seemed to make sense and had no real bearing on world. However, this book single handedly changed all of that for me. Simple and clear, Eagleton lays bare the major theories including strucuralism, semiotics, post-structuralism and everyone's favourite: psychoanalysis.

In particular I would recommend this book to anyone trying to get to grips with post-structuralism. If you've ever tried to read Derrida you'll know that it is the most impossible thing in the world (there is many a lecturer who won't touch it). However, a couple of read throughs of Eagleton and you'll be a master.

Seriously, anyone even thinking about starting on Lit Theory get this book now. It's a life saver and a life changer.

Literary Theory An Introduction
Terry Eagleton is a vastly experienced and highly regarded academic and his book is doubtless essential reading for students on university literature courses. As an interested general reader, I found his opening chapters on the development of literary criticism fascinating. However, the chapters on specific theories were a little beyond the scope of this reader.