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 | | Literary Theory: An Anthology by Julie Rivkin (Editor), Michael Ryan (Editor) ISBN-10: 9780631200284 ISBN-10: 0-631-20028-2 ISBN-13: 9780631200284 ISBN-13: 978-0-631-20028-4 Hardcover 1998-02 Blackwell Publishers Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Book Description Literary Theory: An Anthology is a unique combination of the classic statements in criticism and the new theories that have revolutionized literary study in the past several decades. This unprecedented collection will be an invaluable reference tool for students interested in acquiring a comprehensive knowledge of the most recent developments in critical theory while becoming expert in the tradition from which the new theories derive. The anthology contains classic texts from Formalism, Structuralism, Marxism, Psychoanalysis, Deconstruction, Historicism, and Feminism, and it includes cutting edge work by leading theoreticians in such field as Post-Modernism, Cultural Studies, Post-Colonial Criticism, Gay/Lesbian Studies, Ethnic Studies, and Film. The anthology constitutes the most comprehensive collection of the schools and methods that make up the very rich and exciting field of literary and cultural studies. | ||
Reviews | ||
I wish I haven't sold it back I read this as an undergraduate and found it incredible interesting and comprehensive. Access is provided not just to the standard canon, but to the lesser-known essays as well. An excellent anthology--I'm just sorry I sold it back and have to buy it again. | ||
A further recommendation The strengths and weaknesses of this anthology have been thorougly hashed out by other reviewers, (particularly alopez02 & onela22) & my view of the text falls somewhere in between their 2 opinions. BUT, I would recommend _The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism_ (5 stars) over Rivkin/Ryan if you have to choose only 1 anthology: pound for pound--& I mean this literally, they both weigh in on the heavy end of the scale ;>) --you'll get more bang for your buck with the Norton's (though I own both and find it handy to use them in conjunction, 1 tome often contains different selections than the other). The Norton's contains a far more comprehensive survey extending from the classics (Plato, Horace, Aristotle, et al) to the latest postmodern theorists (Derrida, Kristeva, etc.) & hence gives a good overview not only of the individual theories themselves, but also of the development of Western critical theory. The difficulty with any anthology, & particularly an anthology of lit crit, is there's simply too much material out there to cover in depth in 1 tome. So keep this in mind & remember that the anthology's a jumping off point for further literary study (Norton's has excellent exhaustive bibliographies on each writer included). Use it to find scholars whose theories intrigue you and then go to the source of the material to get their theories whole cloth. Best of luck! | ||
An Excellent Anthology This book was used in my graduate level current literary theory course. It is a wonderful text that supplies ready access to the writers and texts that helped to shape what theory is today. It is not the intention of this book to necessarily apply these theories and show how they can be used. Often, the texts included seem to have no bearing on literature. That is simply because they were not all written as literary theory texts when they were penned. Instead, theory absorbed them and changed itself based upon the ideas in the text. This book is an anthology, not a guide. For a book that shows how to use theory, I recommend Lois Tyson's Critical Theory Today. For a book that shows the texts that each theory is based upon, buy this one. | ||
Good Anthology (Complaints about "jargon" are simply reactions against theory.) I find this book very useful and teach it to undergrads annually. | ||
Almost incomparably superior to other anthologies With all apologies to Alan Lopez, I have never seen a better anthology of literary theory. I am a college faculty member, one who teaches primarily first-year students. I use literary theory in both literature and writing classes, and there is just no other book with the range of selections in this one, and no other book with such sensible, helpful introductions. Certainly there is jargon, in both the selections and in the introductions, but to simplify the texts any more would be to replace reading them with reading "Foucault for Beginners." "Foucault for Beginners" is a fun book, and even useful, but it is not an anthology of primary theory texts. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough to people who want to have selections of a workable length (neither too long to swamp you, nor too short to be unrepresentative of the original authors' projects). If you are thinking about buying this book, that means you are interested in theory. If you are interested in theory, buy this book. If you teach theory, order this book. My only hesitation about requiring this for undergraduates is the price, which is a little hefty unless you are going to be sure to use a decent size chunk of the text. | ||