Beginning theory

Just finished the second edition of Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, by Peter Barry. It was a great read.

It covers a broad swath of theory, from liberal humanism to ecocriticism. Somehow, I managed to never take a course in literature that intruduced the ideas of structuralism, post-structuralism, post-modernism and so on.

Lot’s of the terms were familiar, like sub-text and deconstruction, for instance, but the seemingly common sense meanings one assumes for such things doesn’t capture the full flavor of where they came from and their complexity. So it was good to actually learn - though I still can’t explain with much clarity the exact difference between structuralism and post-structuralism.

Anyway, I recommend it.