Beginning theory has been helping students navigate through the thickets of literary and cultural theory for well over a decade now. This new and expanded third edition continues to offer students and readers the best one-volume introduction to the field. The bewildering variety of approaches, theorists and technical language is lucidly and expertly unravelled. Unlike many books which assume certain positions about the critics and the theories they represent, Peter Barry allows readers to develop their own ideas once first principles and concepts have been grasped. The book has been updated and includes two new chapters, one of which (Literary theory - a history in ten events) innovatively surveys the course of theory, while the other (Theory after 'Theory') maps the arrival of new 'isms' since the second edition appeared in 2002. Liberal humanism - Structuralism - Post-structuralism and deconstruction - Postmodernism - Psychoanalytic criticism - Feminist criticism - Lesbian/gay criticism - Marxist criticism - New historicism and cultural materialism - Postcolonial criticism - Stylistics - Narratology - Ecocriticism - Presentism/Transversal poetics/ New aestheticism/Historical formalism/Cognitive poetics.

Table of Contents

1. Theory before 'Theory' - Liberal humanism 2. Structuralism 3. Post-structuralism and deconstruction 4. Postmodernism 5. Psychoanalytic criticism 6. Feminist criticism 7. Lesbian/gay criticism 8. Marxist criticism 9. New historicism and cultural materialism 10. Postcolonial criticism 11. Stylistics 12. Narratology 13. Ecocriticism 14. Literary theory - a history in ten events 15. Theory after 'Theory' Appendices Edgar Allan Poe: 'The Oval Portrait' Dylan Thomas: 'A Refusal to Mourn' William Cowper: 'The Castaway' Where do we go from here: Further reading

About the Author

Peter Barry is Professor of English at the University of Aberystwyth

Reviews

'It is no surprise to learn that Beginning theory has already been reprinted nine times. There is no other book that offers such a comprehensive account of the field, combined with thoughtful, detailed exposition of the theoretical approaches under discussion. Far from being a modest survey of contemporary literary theory, it has had a vital role in shaping the way that theory is taught in Britain and North America.'English Association Newsletter