How to Interpret Literature

Offering a refreshing combination of accessibility and intellectual rigor, How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies, Second Edition, presents an up-to-date, concise, and wide-ranging historicist survey of contemporary thinking in critical theory. The only book of its kind that thoroughly merges literary studies with cultural studies, this text provides a critical look at the major movements in literary studies since the 1930s, including those often omitted from other texts. It is also the only up-to-date survey of literary theory that devotes extensive treatment to Queer Theory and Postcolonial and Race Studies. How to Interpret Literature, Second Edition, is ideal as either a stand-alone text or in conjunction with an anthology of primary readings such as Robert Dale Parker's Critical Theory: A Reader for Literary and Cultural Studies. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES * Uses a conversational and engaging tone that speaks directly to today's students * Covers a variety of theoretical schools--including New Criticism, Structuralism, Deconstruction, Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and Marxism--weaving connections among chapters to show how these different movements respond to and build on each other * Offers a rich assortment of pedagogical features (charts, text boxes that address frequently asked questions, photos, and a bibliography) NEW TO THIS EDITION * Includes references to more recent literature and contemporary movies (including Avatar and Brokeback Mountain), diversifying the already broad selection of examples * Incorporates the latest developments in the field * Presents "How to Interpret" sections in every chapter * Includes revisions and improvements in every chapter