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Hans Bertens connects theory with interpretive practice through examples drawn from widely read literary texts, showing how theoretical frameworks can make reading more coherent while also transforming how readers understand meaning. 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It emphasizes that interpretation always happens from a theoretical perspective.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the book organize major approaches to literary theory?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It leads through key critical movements signaled by the term “literary theory” and places each in its historical (often political) context. It also illustrates theory in practice with examples from well-known texts.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which areas of literary theory are covered beyond historical movements?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Coverage includes new criticism, formalism, structuralism, political reading, poststructuralism (including Derrida and Foucault), and postcolonial criticism, along with sexuality, literature, and culture. 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Hans Bertens:  \n• leads you through the major approaches to literature which are signalled by the term‘literary theory’  \n• places each critical movement in its historical (and often political) context  \n• illustrates theory in practice with examples from much-read texts  \n• suggests further reading for those especially interested in a particular critical approach  \n• shows not only that theory can make sense but also that it can radically change the way you read.  \nCovering all the basics and much more, this is the ideal book for anyone interested in how we read and why that matters.  \nHans Bertensis based atthe University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. He is the author of The Idea of the Postmodern (Routledge, 1995) .  \nAlso available from Routledge in this series:  \nLanguage: The Basics (Second edition)  \nR. L. Trask  \nPhilosophy: The Basics (Third edition)  \nNigel Warburton  \nPolitics: The Basics (Second edition)  \nStephen Tansey  \nShakespeare: The Basics  \nSean McEvoy  \nSociology: The Basics  \nMartin Albrow  \nLONDON AND NEW YORK  \nLiterary Theory  \nThe Basics  \n■ Hans Bertens  \nFirst published 2001  \nby Routledge  \n11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE  \nSimultaneously published in the USA and Canada  \nby Routledge  \n29West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001  \nRoutledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group  \nThis edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.  \n© 2001 Hans Bertens  \nThe right of Hans Bertens to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988  \nAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known  \nor hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.  \nBritish Library Cataloguing in Publication Data  \nA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library  \nLibrary of Congress Cataloging-inPublication Data  \nBertens, Johannes Willem. Literary theory: the basics / Hans Bertens.  \n[p. cm](p. cm).  \nIncludes bibliographical references and index.  \n1. Criticism – History – 20th century.  \n2. Literature – History and criticism – Theory, etc.  \nI. Title.  \nPN94 .B47 2001 801'.95'0904–dc21  \n00–065328  \nISBN 0–415–25061–7 (hbk)  \nISBN 0–415–18664–1 (pbk)  \nISBN 0-203-44644-5 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-75468-9 (Glassbook Format)  \nTo my colleagues at 4 Mint Street  \nContents  \nPreface ix  \nAcknowledgements xi  \n1 Reading for meaning: practical criticism and  \nnew criticism 1  \n2 Reading for form I: formalism and early structuralism, 1914–1960 31  \n3 Reading for form II: French structuralism, 1950–1975 53  \n4 Political reading:  \nthe 1970s and 1980s 79  \nContents  \n5 The poststucturalist revolution: Derrida, deconstruction, and  \npostmodernism 117  \n6 Poststructuralism continued: Foucault, Lacan, and French  \nfeminism 147  \nCONTENTS  \n7 Literature and culture: the new historicism  \nand cultural materialism 171  \n8 Postcolonial criticism and theory 193  \n9 Sexuality, literature, and culture 217  \nBibliography 237  \nIndex 247  \nPreface  \nThere was a time when the interpretation of literary texts and literary theory seemed two different and almost unrelated things. Interpretation was about the actual meaning of a poem, a novel, or a play, while theory seemed alien to what the study of literature was really about because its generalizations could never do justice to individual texts. In the last thirty years, however, interpretation and theory have moved closer and closer to each other. In fact, for many contemporary critics and theorists interpretation and theory cannot be separated at all. They would argue that when we interpret a text we always do so from a theoretical perspective, w","cbCaidoK5eeSXmUL","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidoK5eeSXmUL","pdf",1105726,269,"English","# Preface\n# Contents\n## Reading for meaning: practical criticism and new criticism\n## Reading for form I: formalism and early structuralism, 1914–1960\n## Reading for form II: French structuralism, 1950–1975\n## Political reading: the 1970s and 1980s\n## The poststructuralist revolution: Derrida, deconstruction, and postmodernism\n## Poststructuralism continued: Foucault, Lacan, and French feminism\n## Literature and culture: the new historicism and cultural materialism\n## Postcolonial criticism and theory\n## Sexuality, literature, and culture\n## Bibliography\n## Index","[{\"question\":\"What does “Literary Theory: The Basics” aim to show about theory and interpretation?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that literary theory and literary practice—interpretation—cannot really be separated, especially in advanced academic study. It emphasizes that interpretation always happens from a theoretical perspective.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the book organize major approaches to literary theory?\",\"answer\":\"It leads through key critical movements signaled by the term “literary theory” and places each in its historical (often political) context. It also illustrates theory in practice with examples from well-known texts.\"},{\"question\":\"Which areas of literary theory are covered beyond historical movements?\",\"answer\":\"Coverage includes new criticism, formalism, structuralism, political reading, poststructuralism (including Derrida and Foucault), and postcolonial criticism, along with sexuality, literature, and culture. The book also provides bibliography and index for further study.\"}]","Literary Theory - The Basics - A Practical Introduction | PDF",1789950089,414]