Literary Theory: An Introduction (Anniversary Edition)
by Terry Eagleton · University of Minnesota Press
This is the canonical argumentative history of the field. Eagleton's critical history of modern literary theory, from the rise of English studies through phenomenology, hermeneutics, reception theory, structuralism, post-structuralism and psychoanalysis. It argues that all theory is political. Unlike Barry's neutral handbook, it has a thesis about what theory is for, which gives readers a structural understanding rather than a list of schools. The 2008 edition adds a new preface on the later 'anti-theory' turn.
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