Something To Be Said for Clarity

books:


	• Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) Jonathan Culler Oxford University Press, USA, 2000 - 152 pages average customer review:based on 24 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

easy to comprehend

Although I graduated from English Literature for about fifteen years ago. I have always been in trouble with literary theories and schools.And I have always been scared to death by the idea of any literary theory. This book has broken the very thick ice which existed between me and the subject. Now I am eager to read more on the subject. Thank you very much Professor Culler.

Something To Be Said for Clarity

This is a classic of clarity and simplicity, a model of its kind, to be compared with the famous Shrunk text on writing. One of the features of theory is the unreadable quality of the prose produced by most of its practitioners. The jargon has made literary no longer attractive. We once read for pleasure and are now turned off by the misc. schools of jargon that obscure as much as they clarify. Those who have written with clarity are written off - Edmund Wilson - and replaced by obscure, minor academics. In this strange atmosphere, and possible as a response to it, Culler has done for theory what Lenin did for Marx. He has made clear what was once difficult if not impossible to understand. We commend his prose style as well as his command of seemingly impenetrable texts.

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Great for beginners

For those of you out there, who are, for some reason, venturing in the very large field of literary theory, with it's vast majority of works that are not understandable to the average people, I wish you good luck.

You will need it, but as it is true vith everything that you care for, if you have the will you will eventualy succeed and fight your way trough the forest and emerge as a winner.

On that travel you should have your vorthy sidekick who will follow you into the most dangerous situations, to the places with no exits and where dark thing brood in every corner waiting to jump upon tired traveller. On the adventurous field of literary theory, Jonathan Cullers book is that kind of sidekick.

If you are completely lost and you have no idea where to start your investigation of numerous schools of thought and many problems that have arisen trought the time, this very short introduction will cover basics, and when you finish reading if you want to go on, there is very good litterature stated on the last pages which you can consult of your own will.

Here you can find short, and trust me, you can't get any shorter, and yet plausible overview of schools which you can use for your future work.

All in all, for a starter this is very good place to start, and for an experienced adventurer this is the place to remind you why you ventured on your quest at all.

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So-So

I finished Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan Culler last evening and admittedly was not quite a fan of it. Parts of it I found to be horribly dense and while it's not A Very Easy Introduction much of the book didn't really seem to fit under the topic. Granted, some of you who are more experts in Literary Theory may disagree. However, I did enjoy a good portion of the book that went into the history of the novel, what exactly literary theory is, looked into the canon and how "reading" styles have changed over time, and so forth. Perhaps most splendidly it offers a short and concise list of all the big literary theories (i.e. feminism, Marxist, psychoanalysis, deconstruction, etc).

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

What is literary theory? Is there a relationship between literature and culture? In fact, what is literature, and does it matter? These questions and more are addressed in Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, a book which steers a clear path through a subject which is often perceived to be complex and impenetrable.
Jonathan Culler, an extremely lucid commentator and much admired in the field of literary theory, offers discerning insights into such theories as the nature of language and meaning, and whether literature is a form of self-expression or a method of appeal to an audience. Concise yet thorough, Literary Theory also outlines the ideas behind a number of different schools: deconstruction, semiotics, postcolonial theory, and structuralism, among others.
From topics such as literature and social identity to poetry, poetics, and rhetoric, Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction is a welcome guide for anyone interested in the importance of literature and the debates surrounding it.

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