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 the reader through the sometimes confusing world of literary theory to answer such questions as: Why is theory so important? Can I use modern theories to analyse texts from other periods? What are issues like gender or race doing in literary theory? How do I decide which theory to use and must I pick just one? 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.
ACTING Bella Merlin EDUCATION Kay Wood AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY Nancy Stanlick EUROPEAN UNION (SECOND EDITION) Alex Warleigh-Lack ANTHROPOLOGY Peter Metcalf EVOLUTION Sherrie Lyons ARCHAEOLOGY (SECOND EDITION) Clive Gamble FILM STUDIES (SECOND EDITION) Amy Villarejo ART HISTORY Grant Pooke and Diana Newall FINANCE (SECOND EDITION) Erik Banks ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Kevin Warwick FREE WILL Meghan Griffith THE BIBLE John Barton HUMAN GENETICS Ricki Lewis BUDDHISM Cathy Cantwell HUMAN GEOGRAPHY Andrew Jones THE CITY Kevin Archer INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Peter Sutch and Juanita Elias CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE Suman Gupta ISLAM (SECOND EDITION) Colin Turner CRIMINAL LAW Jonathan Herring JOURNALISM STUDIES Martin Conboy CRIMINOLOGY (SECOND EDITION) Sandra Walklate JUDAISM Jacob Neusner DANCE STUDIES Jo Butterworth LANGUAGE (SECOND EDITION) R.L. Trask EASTERN PHILOSOPHY Victoria S. Harrison LAW Gary Slapper and David Kelly ECONOMICS (SECOND EDITION) Tony Cleaver LITERARY THEORY (THIRD EDITION) Hans Bertens
J.C. Beall RESEARCH METHODS Nicholas Walliman MANAGEMENT Morgen Witzel ROMAN CATHOLICISM Michael Walsh MARKETING (SECOND EDITION) Karl Moore and Niketh Pareek SEMIOTICS (SECOND EDITION) Daniel Chandler MEDIA STUDIES Julian McDougall SHAKESPEARE (THIRD EDITION) Sean McEvoy THE OLYMPICS Andy Miah and Beatriz Garcia SOCIAL WORK Mark Doel PHILOSOPHY (FIFTH EDITION) Nigel Warburton SOCIOLOGY Ken Plummer PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Joseph Holden SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS Janice Wearmouth POETRY (SECOND EDITION) Jeffrey Wainwright TELEVISION STUDIES Toby Miller POLITICS (FOURTH EDITION) Stephen Tansey and Nigel Jackson TERRORISM James Lutz and Brenda Lutz THE QUR’AN Massimo Campanini THEATRE STUDIES (SECOND EDITION) Robert Leach RACE AND ETHNICITY Peter Kivisto and Paul R. Croll WOMEN’S STUDIES Bonnie Smith RELIGION (SECOND EDITION) Malory Nye WORLD HISTORY Peter N. Stearns RELIGION AND SCIENCE Philip Clayton
THE BASICS Third edition Hans Bertens
by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2014 Hans Bertens The right of Hans Bertens to be identified as author has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Whilst every effort has been made to trace copyright holders, this has not been possible in all cases. Any omissions brought to our attention will be remedied in future editions. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. First published 2001 by Routledge Second edition published 2008 by Routledge British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Bertens, Johannes Willem. Literary theory : the basics / Hans Bertens. – Third edition. pages cm. – (The Basics; 3) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Criticism–History–20th century. 2. Literature–History and criticism–Theory, etc. I. Title. Pn94.B47 2013 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) Typeset in Bembo by Taylor & Francis Books
Introduction Reading for meaning: practical criticism and New Criticism 2 Reading for form I: formalism and early structuralism, 1914–60 3 Reading for form II: French structuralism, 1950–75 4 Political reading: class, gender, and race in the 1970s and 1980s 5 The poststructuralist revolution: Derrida and deconstruction 6 Poststructuralism continued: Foucault, Lacan, French feminism, and postmodernism 7 Literature and culture: cultural studies, the new historicism, and cultural materialism 8 Postcolonial criticism and theory 9 Sexuality, literature, and culture 10 Posthumanism, ecocriticism, and animal studies 11 Conclusion 1 1 Bibliography Index 4 28 46 67 102 123 150 168 195 213 233 240 259
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