It has held sway in the humanities for nearly four decades, surviving even the great culture wars. But it is being used in surprising ways. Either literary theory is dead, or it’s invincible. It all ...

Bringing together Mary Klages's bestselling introductory books Literary Theory: A Guide for the Perplexed and Key Terms in Literary Theory into one fully integrated and substantially revised, expanded ...

Literary studies investigate texts through a range of approaches that span traditional close reading and critical theory to modern computational, cognitive, and interdisciplinary methodologies. The ...

Anyone who has taught a college literature course has likely heard a student say, “Can’t I just enjoy the book?” This frustration with literary theory is common. Many undergraduates feel that theory ...