Western literary theory of the 20th century

Author: Terry Eagleton
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: This book was first published in 1983 and is a monograph by Eagleton that systematically introduces and critiques Western literary theories to the general British readership. The author organizes the complex and diverse revolution of 20th-century Western literary theories, tracing three main developmental lines from Formalism, Structuralism to Post-structuralism, from Phenomenology, Hermeneutics to Reception Aesthetics, as well as Psychoanalytic theory. It provides an in-depth analysis of their emergence, evolution, problems, and limitations. This book is translated from the second edition of 1996, which includes a lengthy Postscript summarizing the major changes that have occurred in the field of Western literary theory since the book's first publication 13 years ago.