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Re-Thinking Theory: A Critique of Contemporary Literary Theory and an Alternative Account

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Re-Thinking Theory: A Critique of Contemporary Literary Theory and an Alternative Account
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Richard Freadman
By (author) Seumas Miller
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:312
Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 140
Category/GenreLiterary theory
ISBN/Barcode 9780521128681
ClassificationsDewey:801.950904
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Tertiary Education (US: College)
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 4 February 2010
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Re-thinking Theory offers a bold approach to literary studies, itself explicitly theoretical and yet making a searching critique of the modes, concepts and movements which comprise literary theory. Discussing key concepts such as ideology, signification and discourse, and analysing schools including that of F. R. Leavis, Althusserian Marxism, Derridean and Foucaultian poststructuralism, and New Historicism, the authors argue that there are major deficiencies in the conceptual foundations and the literary and political implications of much literary theory. These deficiencies are ascribed principally to three aspects of theoretical schools: the commitment to a non-referential view of language, the rejection of substantive accounts of the individual, and a repudiation of moral and aesthetic evaluation. The 'alternative account' offered by Professors Freadman and Miller incorporates the values renounced by this kind of literary theory and places a central emphasis on ethical discourse.