Theory and Practice of Sociocriticism was first published in 1988. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. Edmond Cros is a leading French Hispanicist whose work is unique in Continental theory because it brings Spanish and Mexican texts into current literary debates, which have so far centered mainly on the French and German traditions. Equally distinctive is the nature of his work, which Cros terms sociocriticism. Unlike most sociological approaches to literature, which leave the structure of texts untouched, sociocriticism aims to prove that the encounter with "ideological traces," and with antagonistic tensions between social classes, is central to any reading of texts. Cros's method distinguishes between the "semiotic and "ideological" elements within a text, and involves the patient, exacting reconstruction of the concrete text from these elements, a process that enables the sociocritic to interpret its fault lines, its internal contradictions - in the end , its irreducibly social nature. As its title suggests, Theory and Practice of Sociocriticism is structured in two parts. Its opening chapters analyze sociological theories of discourse, including those of Foucault, Bakhtin, and Goldman; in the second part, Cros applies theory to practice in readings of specific works: the film Scarface, contemporary Mexican poetry and prose (Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes), and the picaresque novel of the Spanish Golden Age. In their foreword, Jurgen Link and Ursula Link-Heer differentiate sociocriticism from other social approaches to literature and show how Cros's method works in specific textual readings. They emphasize his resistance to the reductive modes and "misreadings" that dominate much of contemporary theory. Edmond Cros is a professor of literary theory and Hispanic studies at the Universite Paul Valery in Montpellier, France, and Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Jurgen Link teaches at the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum and Ursula Link-Heer at the Universitat Siegen, both in West Germany.

The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Sociology is the first encyclopaedic presentation of the research into social aspects of translation and interpreting. It consists of thirty-five chapters contributed by forty experts in their respective fields of the sociology of translation. The Handbook traces the evolution of research into social aspects of translation and interpreting, explains the basics of the sociology of translation, offers an insight into studies of translation within sociology, shows the place translation and interpreting occupies among social functional systems and its interactions with social forces and practices. With global coverage spanning all inhabited continents, the Handbook examines translational practices across diverse cultures and historical periods, from ancient origins to modern professional practices. Suitable for both undergraduate and postgraduate students of translation and interpreting, as well as researchers in the sociology of translation, the Handbook furnishes readers with a comprehensive understanding of the field. It offers a thorough exploration of the current state of the sociology of translation and suggests avenues for further research.

An encyclopedic dictionary of technical and theoretical terms, the book covers all aspects of a semiotic approach to the theatre, with cross-referenced alphabetical entries ranging from absurd to word scenery.

The last half of the twentieth century has seen the emergence of literary theory as a new discipline. As with any body of scholarship, various schools of thought exist, and sometimes conflict, within it. I.R. Makaryk has compiled a welcome guide to the field. Accessible and jargon-free, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory provides lucid, concise explanations of myriad approaches to literature that have arisen over the past forty years. Some 170 scholars from around the world have contributed their expertise to this volume. Their work is organized into three parts. In Part I, forty evaluative essays examine the historical and cultural context out of which new schools of and approaches to literature arose. The essays also discuss the uses and limitations of the various schools, and the key issues they address. Part II focuses on individual theorists. It provides a more detailed picture of the network of scholars not always easily pigeonholed into the categories of Part I. This second section analyses the individual achievements, as well as the influence, of specific scholars, and places them in a larger critical context. Part III deals with the vocabulary of literary theory. It identifies significant, complex terms, places them in context, and explains their origins and use. Accessibility is a key feature of the work. By avoiding jargon, providing mini-bibliographies, and cross-referencing throughout, Makaryk has provided an indispensable tool for literary theorists and historians and for all scholars and students of contemporary criticism and culture.

"Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975) has had an enormous influence on literary studies and cultural theory. Bakhtin between East and West: Cross-Cultural Transmission looks beyond the concepts of carnival and dialogue and traces for the first time the transformation of the Bakhtin Circle's thought from its introduction to the West in Julia Kristeva's seminal late-1960s theory of intertextuality, through Tzvetan Todorov's landmark study and on to contemporary interpretations. The notion of sociality in all its problematic complexity provides the red thread guiding us through this historical and thematic examination of Western and Russian Bakhtin studies. As a critical evaluation of Bakhtin scholarship across various cultures and a celebration of the vigour of the Circle's legacy, this is an invaluable resource for scholars and students with an interest in Bakhtin and critical theory."