CONTEMPORARY LITERARY AND CULTURAL THEORY : from structuralism to ecocriticism;from structuralism to ecocriticism

Description Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory: From Structuralism to Ecocriticism is a comprehensive survey of the major theoretical schools thathave shaped our ideas about literary and cultural phenomena sincethe mid-twentieth century. Each chapter in this book traces theorigin and development of a specific critical approach up to recenttimes, with a special focus on key thinkers. Chapters on criticalrace studies and ecocriticism distinguish this book from manyothers on this subject. Written in a student-friendly manner, itdoes not presume prior knowledge of Western philosophical thoughtand makes Theory approachable for students from variousbackgrounds. Apart from students of English literature, the bookwill serve the interdisciplinary interests of students of masscommunication, history, sociology and gender studies. It will alsoappeal to the general reader who wants a clearer picture of that'opaque' academic field called Theory. Important concepts highlighted in boxes Occasional point-wise organization to facilitate readability and easy comprehension Examples from Indian culture that students can connect with A short list for further reading at the end of every chapter Recent developments in critical theory, namely, Ecocriticism and Critical Race Studies, included Structuralism Poststructuralism and Deconstruction Psychoanalytic Criticism Feminisms Marxisms Postcolonial Theory Queer Theory New Historicism and Cultural Materialism Critical Race Studies Ecocriticism PRAMOD K. NAYAR teaches at the Department of English,University of Hyderabad, India. Nayar is author of several booksincluding Postcolonial Literature: An Introduction (2008), alsopublished by Pearson. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Prefacing Theory......Page 10 Chapter 1: Structuralism......Page 14 The Linguistic Turn: Saussurean Linguistics......Page 17 Russian Formalism......Page 20 Roman Jakobson and Metaphor-Metonymy......Page 22 Semiotics......Page 26 Structuralism and Narrative Theory......Page 29 The Folktale......Page 30 Structural Semiotics......Page 31 Mikhail Bakhtin and Dialogism......Page 34 Roland Barthes and his Codes......Page 36 Narratives and their Intertexts......Page 43 Author, Reader......Page 44 Note......Page 45 Chapter 2: Poststructuralism and Deconstruction......Page 46 The Discursive Turn: Michel Foucault......Page 47 The Deconstructive Turn: Barthes and Derrida......Page 50 Text, Textuality and Writing......Page 53 Phonocentrism, Logocentrism and the ‘Metaphysics of Presence’......Page 54 The Supplement and Differance......Page 55 ‘There is No Outside-Text’......Page 56 J. Hillis Miller’s Deconstruction......Page 58 Binaries, Reversals and Deconstructive Reading......Page 59 Jean Baudrillard, the Hyperreal and Simulation......Page 61 Gilles Deleuze and Simulacra......Page 63 Lyotard and the Postmodern......Page 64 Subject and Subjectivity in Poststructuralism......Page 66 Kristeva and the Chora......Page 67 Poststructuralism, Flows and Deterritorialization......Page 69 Poststructuralism, Postmodernism and Narrative......Page 71 Poststructuralism and the Theory of Minor Literature......Page 73 Further Reading......Page 74 Notes......Page 75 Chapter 3: Psychoanalytic Criticism......Page 76 The Structure of the Human Psyche......Page 77 The Oedipus Complex......Page 79 Dreams and the Unconscious......Page 80 Freud on Women......Page 82 Reader-Response Criticism......Page 84 Archetypal Criticism......Page 86 Mothers, Daugh Ters......Page 87 Lacan, Language and the Unconscious......Page 88 Poststructuralist Psychoanalysis......Page 91 Freudian Revisionism: Harold Bloom......Page 92 Schizoanalysis: Deleuze and Guattari......Page 93 Further Reading......Page 94 Chapter 4: Feminisms......Page 95 The Gender Turn: Mary Wollstone Craft and the Rights of Women......Page 98 Virginia Woolf, Authorship, Androgyny......Page 99 Simone Debeauvoir and Existential Feminism......Page 101 The Social Construction of Gender......Page 102 Postmodernism, Gender and Performativity......Page 104 Materialist Views of Gender......Page 106 Writing Women......Page 107 Women Writing Criticism......Page 109 Women, Language, Writing......Page 110 Écriture Feminine......Page 111 The Politics of Women’s Biology......Page 112 The Subject and Subjectivity in Feminism......Page 113 Sexuality and Desire......Page 116 Feminist Critiques of the Nation......Page 118 Race and Ethnicity......Page 121 Black Feminism......Page 122 Postcolo Nialfeminism......Page 125 Technology and the Feminist Response......Page 127 Cyborg Cultures......Page 128 Women in/and Cyberspace......Page 130 Cyberfeminist Art and Culture......Page 131 Notes......Page 133 Chapter 5: Marxisms......Page 134 The Class Turn: Marx and Engels......Page 135 Marxism and Culture......Page 137 Culture, Ideology and Hegemony......Page 141 Base and Superstructure......Page 149 Raymond Williams, Cultural Materialism and ‘Determination’......Page 150 Dominant, Residual and Emergent Cultures......Page 154 The Culture Industry......Page 155 Pierre Macherey and Literary Production......Page 157 Aesthetics, Ideology and Cultural Production......Page 158 Pierre Bourdieu and Cultural Production......Page 160 Fredric Jameson and Postmodernity......Page 161 Stuart Hall and the Rise of Cultural Studies......Page 162 Further Reading......Page 164 Notes......Page 165 Chapter 6: Postcolonial Theory......Page 166 The Imperial Turn: Gandhi, Anti-Colonial Struggle and the Early Postcolonial......Page 168 Frantz Fanon and the Psychopathology of Colonialism......Page 170 Aime Cesaire, Leopold Senghor and Negritude......Page 172 Edward Said, Orientalism and the Postcolo Nial Moment......Page 173 The Literature of Empire......Page 177 Language and Imperialism......Page 180 Subject and Subalternity......Page 181 Gender, Sexuality and the Empire......Page 185 Nations and Nationalism......Page 188 Globalization, Diaspora and the Postnational......Page 191 Diaspora......Page 192 Cosmopolitanisms......Page 193 The Postnational......Page 194 Notes......Page 195 Chapter 7: Queer Theory......Page 196 Michel Foucault and the Discourses of Sexuatity......Page 198 the Social Construction of Sexuality......Page 200 Gender Identity and Performativity......Page 202 Past Texts and Future Politics......Page 205 Queer Subcultures......Page 206 Lesbian Feminism and Radicalesbians......Page 207 Race and Sexuality......Page 208 Queer Diaspora......Page 210 Further Reading......Page 211 Notes......Page 212 Chapter 8: New Historicism and Cultural Materialism......Page 213 The Historicist Turn......Page 214 History and Textuality......Page 215 Culture and Ideology......Page 216 Culture-as-Text, Cultural Texts......Page 218 Materialist Critiques......Page 219 Texts, Discourses, Material Practices......Page 221 Improvisation......Page 222 Circulation......Page 224 Cultural Poetics......Page 225 Cultural Materialism......Page 226 The Politics of Interpretation......Page 227 Dissident Reading......Page 228 Further Reading......Page 229 Chapter 9: Critical Race Studies......Page 230 Dubois and Social Theory......Page 231 Larry Neal, Myth and Racial Memory......Page 233 Race and Difference......Page 234 Henry Louis Gates, JR and Signifyin(G)......Page 236 First Peoples, in Theory......Page 239 ‘Mixed Race’ and Multiethnic Culture Studies......Page 241 Mestiza Poetics and Theories......Page 243 Being Black, While Being British......Page 245 New Theories of ‘Difference’......Page 247 Jacques Derrida, Hospitality and Cosmopolitanism......Page 248 Roberto Esposito and Bios......Page 250 Aihwa ONG and the Refugee......Page 251 Notes......Page 253 Chapter 10: Ecocriticism......Page 254 The Ecological Turn......Page 255 ‘Nature’ in Western Thought......Page 257 Deep Ecology......Page 259 Apocalypticism......Page 260 Third World Environmentalism......Page 261 Ecofeminism......Page 262 Materialist/Socialist Ecofeminism......Page 263 Ecofeminist Spirituality......Page 264 Literary Ecology......Page 265 Notes......Page 266 Bibliography......Page 268 About the Author......Page 284 Index......Page 286