[Very Short Introductions 004] • Literary Theory by Culler, Jonathan -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Title page Preface Acknowledgements Contents 1 What is theory?

The term theory Theory as genre Theory’s effects Foucault on sex Theory’s moves Derrida on writing What the examples show

2 What is Literature and Does it Matter?

Literariness outside literature What sort of question? Historical variations Treating texts as literature Conventions of literature A puzzle The nature of literature

1. Literature as the ‘foregrounding’ of language 2. Literature as the integration of language 3. Literature as ﬁction 4. Literature as aesthetic object 5. Literature as intertextual or self-reﬂexive construct

Properties versus consequences The functions of literature The paradox of literature

3 Literature and Cultural Studies

The emergence of cultural studies Tensions

1. The literary canon 2. Modes of analysis

Goals Distinctions

4 Language, Meaning, and Interpretation

Meaning in literature Saussure’s theory of language Language and thought Linguistic analysis Poetics versus hermeneutics Readers and meaning Interpretation Meaning, intention, and context

5 Rhetoric, Poetics, and Poetry

Rhetorical ﬁgures Genres Poetry as word and act The extravagance of lyric Rhythmic words Interpreting poems

6 Narrative

Plot Presentation Focalization What stories do

7 Performative Language

Austin’s performatives Performatives and literature Derrida’s performatives Performative–constative relations Butler’s performatives Stakes and implications

8 Identity, Identiﬁcation, and the Subject

The subject Literature and identity Representing or producing? Psychoanalysis Group identities Pervasive structures Theory

Appendix: Theoretical Schools and Movements

Russian Formalism New Criticism Phenomenology Structuralism Post-Structuralism Deconstruction Feminist Theory Psychoanalysis Marxism New Historicism/Cultural Materialism Post-Colonial Theory Minority Discourse Queer Theory

References

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Appendix