Literary Theories: A Case Study in Critical Performance

Every student of literature needs to understand how to use literary theory to analyse and interpret the text. Literary Theories challenges the out-dated notion that theory is something separable from the act of reading and interpretation and, believing that the best way to learn is through practical application, plunges the student into the midst of a range of critical readings. Clearly argued and lucidly written, these essays offer the student reader an interactive introduction to the ways in which contemporary literary theories challenge us to rethink interpretation, literary writing and critical reading.

William Baker is Distinguished Chair Qiantang River Professor, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, PRChina and Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Northern Illinois University, USA. Co-Editor, Year's Work in English Studies, he is the author/editor of numerous books: his co-authored Harold Pinter: A Bibliographical History and The Letters of Wilkie Collins were honoured by Choice as the year's most outstanding books (2006 and 2000). The author of numerous articles on Shakespeare, including his William Shakespeare (2009), translated into Chinese. Recent publications include Pinter's World (2018), contributions to Tom Stoppard in Context (2021), and the co-edited Wilkie Collins in Context (2023).

JULIAN WOLFREYS is Associate Professor in the department of English at the University of Florida, UK.