The primary task of literary theory, Jonathan Culler asserts in the new edition of his classic in this field, is not to illuminate individual literary works but to explain the system of literary signi
Structuralism is a broad intellectual movement in the humanities and social sciences that came to prominence in the 1960s. Representing the beginning of modern interdisciplinary work in what has come
Has theory neglected literature? Often literary and cultural theory, which goes by the nickname "Theory," has seemed to be the theory of everything except literature: theory of language, of sexuality,
Literary critic Culler (English and comparative literature, Cornell U.) argues that not only is literary theory alive and well, despite its many obituaries, but that such theory need not eclipse liter
From reviews of the first edition?"Academic literary crticism continues to be dominated by 'theory' and the struggle between deconstructionist and humanist approaches to the business of reading. Jonat
Benedict Anderson, professor at Cornell and specialist in Southeast Asian studies, is best known for his book Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (1991). It is no
