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Literary Theory The Basics PDF

285 Pages·2013·3.34 MB·english
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LITERARY THEORY THE BASICS Now in its third edition, Literary Theory: The Basics is a clear and engaging introduction to this core area of study. Exploring a broad range of topics, from the New Criticism of the 1930s to the Ecocriticism and Posthumanism of the twenty-first century, it guides thereaderthroughthe sometimesconfusingworld of literary theory to answer such questions as: (cid:2) Why is theory so important? (cid:2) Can I use modern theories to analyse texts from other periods? (cid:2) What are issues like gender or race doing in literary theory? (cid:2) How do I decide which theory to use and must I pick just one? (cid:2) What comes after theory? Now with updated case studies and suggestions for further reading, Literary Theory: The Basics is a must read for anyone wishing to approach the many debates and theories in this field with confidence. Hans Bertens is Professor of Comparative Literature at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. The Basics ACTING EDUCATION BellaMerlin KayWood AMERICANPHILOSOPHY EUROPEANUNION(SECONDEDITION) NancyStanlick AlexWarleigh-Lack ANTHROPOLOGY EVOLUTION PeterMetcalf SherrieLyons ARCHAEOLOGY(SECONDEDITION) FILMSTUDIES(SECONDEDITION) CliveGamble AmyVillarejo ARTHISTORY FINANCE(SECONDEDITION) GrantPookeandDianaNewall ErikBanks ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE FREEWILL KevinWarwick MeghanGriffith THEBIBLE HUMANGENETICS JohnBarton RickiLewis BUDDHISM HUMANGEOGRAPHY CathyCantwell AndrewJones THECITY INTERNATIONALRELATIONS KevinArcher PeterSutchandJuanitaElias CONTEMPORARYLITERATURE ISLAM(SECONDEDITION) SumanGupta ColinTurner CRIMINALLAW JOURNALISMSTUDIES JonathanHerring MartinConboy CRIMINOLOGY(SECONDEDITION) JUDAISM SandraWalklate JacobNeusner DANCESTUDIES LANGUAGE(SECONDEDITION) JoButterworth R.L.Trask EASTERNPHILOSOPHY LAW VictoriaS.Harrison GarySlapperandDavidKelly ECONOMICS(SECONDEDITION) LITERARYTHEORY(THIRDEDITION) TonyCleaver HansBertens LOGIC RESEARCHMETHODS J.C.Beall NicholasWalliman MANAGEMENT ROMANCATHOLICISM MorgenWitzel MichaelWalsh MARKETING(SECONDEDITION) SEMIOTICS(SECONDEDITION) KarlMooreandNikethPareek DanielChandler MEDIASTUDIES SHAKESPEARE(THIRDEDITION) JulianMcDougall SeanMcEvoy THEOLYMPICS SOCIALWORK AndyMiahandBeatrizGarcia MarkDoel PHILOSOPHY(FIFTHEDITION) SOCIOLOGY NigelWarburton KenPlummer PHYSICALGEOGRAPHY SPECIALEDUCATIONALNEEDS JosephHolden JaniceWearmouth POETRY(SECONDEDITION) TELEVISIONSTUDIES JeffreyWainwright TobyMiller POLITICS(FOURTHEDITION) TERRORISM StephenTanseyandNigelJackson JamesLutzandBrendaLutz THEQUR’AN THEATRESTUDIES(SECONDEDITION) MassimoCampanini RobertLeach RACEANDETHNICITY WOMEN’SSTUDIES PeterKivistoandPaulR.Croll BonnieSmith RELIGION(SECONDEDITION) WORLDHISTORY MaloryNye PeterN.Stearns RELIGIONANDSCIENCE PhilipClayton This page intentionally left blank LITERARY THEORY THE BASICS Third edition Hans Bertens Thirdeditionpublished2014 byRoutledge 2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN andbyRoutledge 711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017 RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness ©2014HansBertens TherightofHansBertenstobeidentifiedasauthorhasbeenassertedbyhimin accordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedorutilised inanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,nowknownorhereafter invented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinanyinformationstorageor retrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers. Whilsteveryefforthasbeenmadetotracecopyrightholders, thishasnotbeenpossibleinallcases.Anyomissionsbrought toourattentionwillberemediedinfutureeditions. Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationand explanationwithoutintenttoinfringe. Firstpublished2001byRoutledge Secondeditionpublished2008byRoutledge BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Bertens,JohannesWillem. Literarytheory:thebasics/HansBertens.–Thirdedition. pagescm.–(TheBasics;3) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. 1.Criticism–History–20thcentury.2.Literature–Historyand criticism–Theory,etc.I.Title. Pn94.B472013 801’.950904–dc23 2013010557 ISBN:978-0-415-53806-0(hbk) ISBN:978-0-415-53807-7(pbk) ISBN:978-0-203-48883-6(ebk) TypesetinBembo byTaylor&FrancisBooks CONTENTS Introduction 1 1 Reading for meaning: practical criticism and New Criticism 4 2 Reading for form I: formalism and early structuralism, 1914–60 28 3 Reading for form II: French structuralism, 1950–75 46 4 Political reading: class, gender, and race in the 1970s and 1980s 67 5 The poststructuralist revolution: Derrida and deconstruction 102 6 Poststructuralism continued: Foucault, Lacan, French feminism, and postmodernism 123 7 Literature and culture: cultural studies, the new historicism, and cultural materialism 150 8 Postcolonial criticism and theory 168 9 Sexuality, literature, and culture 195 10 Posthumanism, ecocriticism, and animal studies 213 11 Conclusion 233 Bibliography 240 Index 259 This page intentionally left blank INTRODUCTION There was a time when the interpretation of literary texts and lit- erary theory seemed two different and almost unrelated things. Interpretation was about the actual meaning of a poem, a novel, or a play, while theory seemed alien to what the study of literature was really about and even presented a threat to the reading of individual poems, novels, and other literary texts because of its reductive generalizations. In the last thirty years, however, inter- pretation and theory have movedcloser and closer toeach other.In fact, for many people involved in literary studies, interpretation and theory cannot be separated at all. They would argue that when we interpret a text we always do so from a theoretical perspective, whether we are aware of it or not, and they would also argue that theory cannot do without interpretation. ThepremiseofLiteraryTheory:TheBasicsisthatliterarytheoryand literary practice – the practice of interpretation – can indeed not be separated very well and certainly not at the more advanced level of academic literary studies. One of its aims, then, is to show how theory and practice are inevitably connected and have always been connected. Although the emphasis is on the 1970s and after, the first three chapters focus on the most important views of literature and of the individual literary work of the earlier part of the twentieth century. This is not a merely historical exercise. A good

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