Providing the ideal first step in understanding the often bewildering world of literary theory, Literary Theory: The Basics is an easy to follow and clearly presented introduction to this fascinating area. Showing that theory can not only make sense, but also radically change the way in which we read, Literary Theory: The Basics: * leads readers through the major approached to literature that are signalled by the term â¬~literary theory' * places each critical movement in its historical (and often political) context * illustrates theory in practice with examples from well-known texts * suggests further reading for those especially interested in a particular critical approach. Covering all the basics and much more, this is the perfect book for anyone interested in how we read and why that matters.

Providing the ideal first step in understanding the often bewildering world of literary theory, this text is an easy to follow and clearly presented introduction to this fascinating area.

Literary Theory: A Practical Introduction, Third Edition, presents a comprehensive introduction to the full range of contemporary approaches to the study of literature and culture, from formalism, structuralism, and historicism to ethnic, gender, and science studies. Introduces students to a variety of contemporary approaches to the study of literature and culture Demonstrates how the varying perspectives on texts can lead to different interpretations of the same work Features numerous updates that include new literary texts, new and expanded sections Represents the ideal accompaniment to the upcoming Third Edition of Literary Theory: An Anthology

Theory of Literature was born from the collaboration of Ren Wellek, a Vienna-born student of Prague School linguistics, and Austin Warren, an independently minded "old New Critic." Unlike many other textbooks of its era, however, this classic kowtows to no dogma and toes no party line. Wellek and Warren looked at literature as both a social product--influenced by politics, economics, etc.--as well as a self-contained system of formal structures. Incorporating examples from Aristotle to Coleridge, written in clear, uncondescending prose, Theory of Literature is a work which, especially in its suspicion of simplistic explanations and its distrust of received wisdom, remains extremely relevant to the study of literature today.