Preface to the Anniversary Edition.
Preface to the Second Edition.
Preface to the First Edition.
Introduction: What is Literature?.
1. The Rise of English.
2. Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, Reception Theory.
3. Structuralism and Semiotics.
4. Post-Structuralism.
5. Psychoanalysis.
Conclusion: Political Criticism.
Afterword.
Notes.
Bibliography.
Index
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 Eagletons 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