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Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory
Beginning Theory has been helping students navigate through the thickets of literary and cultural theory for over two decades. This new and expanded fourth edition continues to offer readers the best single-volume introduction to the field.
The bewildering variety of approaches, theorists and technical language is lucidly and expertly unravelled. Unlike many books which assume certain positions about the critics and the theories they represent, Beginning Theory allows readers to develop their own ideas once first principles and concepts have been grasped.
The book has been updated for this edition and includes a new introduction, expanded chapters, and an overview of the subject ('Theory after "Theory"') which maps the arrival of new 'isms' since the second edition appeared in 2002 and the third edition in 2009.
The bewildering variety of approaches, theorists and technical language is lucidly and expertly unravelled. Unlike many books which assume certain positions about the critics and the theories they represent, Beginning Theory allows readers to develop their own ideas once first principles and concepts have been grasped.
The book has been updated for this edition and includes a new introduction, expanded chapters, and an overview of the subject ('Theory after "Theory"') which maps the arrival of new 'isms' since the second edition appeared in 2002 and the third edition in 2009.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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3419 people want to read
About the author
Peter Barry
14 books18 followersPeter Barry is Professor of English at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 268 reviews
February 10, 2015
FRANK
In 1959 Frank Sinatra recorded his great version of Cole Porter’s “What is this thing called Critical Theory?” 36 years later Peter Barry in this excellent book explains that it’s a network of ideas developed in the 60s, 70s and 80s which challenged the status quo of liberal humanism and made flesh that haunting phrase from Marx :
all that is solid melts into the air
Critical theory puts you wise. You thought you had an identity? That, like, you were a YOU? Guess again - you don’t. Sorry bout that. Yeah, I know. So many things you thought were absolute, you were such a sweet kid, but now you know they’re contingent. Stability is so 1950s. Things is tough all over. Definitions? Ungraspable. Dictionaries? Xeroxes of snapshots taken by whitewater canooists hurtling down the dangerous chasms of illusion and the flumes of fantasy called language. Disinterested intellectual inquiry? Common sense? Canons of great writers? You can kiss all that goodbye, that’s gone like jobs for life, like horseless carriages and divorceless marriages, they’re so gone it’s like they were never here. This is a relative universe. My name is Barthes. Come on in. it's okay, once you get used to it.
CILLA
A mere seven years after Frank’s profound statement of non-faith came Cilla Black (discovered as you all know working the cloak-room at The Cavern) singing “What’s it all about, Alfie?” She hadn’t at that point read Barthes, Saussure or Levi-Strauss or she would have changed this beautiful Bacharach/David song’s coda to “when you walk let linguistics and structuralism lead the way/And you may find love any day”. It would have been cheeky but so right.
ARETHA
So critical theory was at war with every previously accepted cultural concept, and also, having the courage of its convictions, it was at war with itself. In 1980 Aretha Franklin, one of popular music’s greatest post-structuralists, recorded “What a Fool Believes” which from the perspective of a dedicated follower of Jacques Lacan expertly lashed into the corny structuralist’s romantic conviction that meaning ultimately resides in scientific method and language – in verse three Aretha is pitiless about Barthes’ use of diagrams, for instance – and throughout the song her fearsome voice convinces even the casual listener that the signified must always escape the signifier.
FAB
You may think that after the terminal scepticism and playful despondency of the post-structuralists theory itself had nowhere to go, and we were left with endless Beatles revivalists singing “Paperback Derrida”
Sir or madam will you read his book
It took him years to write and it’s worth a look
"Of Grammatology" or "Counterpath"
They’re all heavy slogs but you wanna read a paperback Derrida
Paperback Derridaaaaaah
or Dave Davies’ classic “Lets all drink to the death of the author” or the Dixiecups’ weird celebration “Eco Eco”. But in 1991 the Spice Girls brought a real breath of fresh theoretical exploration as their giant hit “Who Do You Think You Are?” presented the world with a bracing three and a half minute tour round the complexities of post-colonialism and identity politics in general (that the flipside was yet another cunning Beatles revival “He’s Said, She’s Said” was in this case only apt.)
ZOMBIES! WHERE ARE THE ZOMBIES? WE HAVE TO HAVE ZOMBIES!
From Sinatra to the Spice Girls, from Levi-Strauss to Baudrillard – a hectic four decades which Peter Barry in this very smart book sums up with panache. You’ll be reaching for Youtube or Spotify or even Grooveshark constantly as Peter Barry infuses new meaning into old chestnuts like “She’s Not There” by the Zombies and “The Windmills of Your Mind” by Noel Harrison. (Note : Peter Barry is not related to John Barry who recorded the Bond theme. That would have been cute, but it isn’t true.)
Highly recommended.
In 1959 Frank Sinatra recorded his great version of Cole Porter’s “What is this thing called Critical Theory?” 36 years later Peter Barry in this excellent book explains that it’s a network of ideas developed in the 60s, 70s and 80s which challenged the status quo of liberal humanism and made flesh that haunting phrase from Marx :
all that is solid melts into the air
Critical theory puts you wise. You thought you had an identity? That, like, you were a YOU? Guess again - you don’t. Sorry bout that. Yeah, I know. So many things you thought were absolute, you were such a sweet kid, but now you know they’re contingent. Stability is so 1950s. Things is tough all over. Definitions? Ungraspable. Dictionaries? Xeroxes of snapshots taken by whitewater canooists hurtling down the dangerous chasms of illusion and the flumes of fantasy called language. Disinterested intellectual inquiry? Common sense? Canons of great writers? You can kiss all that goodbye, that’s gone like jobs for life, like horseless carriages and divorceless marriages, they’re so gone it’s like they were never here. This is a relative universe. My name is Barthes. Come on in. it's okay, once you get used to it.
CILLA
A mere seven years after Frank’s profound statement of non-faith came Cilla Black (discovered as you all know working the cloak-room at The Cavern) singing “What’s it all about, Alfie?” She hadn’t at that point read Barthes, Saussure or Levi-Strauss or she would have changed this beautiful Bacharach/David song’s coda to “when you walk let linguistics and structuralism lead the way/And you may find love any day”. It would have been cheeky but so right.
ARETHA
So critical theory was at war with every previously accepted cultural concept, and also, having the courage of its convictions, it was at war with itself. In 1980 Aretha Franklin, one of popular music’s greatest post-structuralists, recorded “What a Fool Believes” which from the perspective of a dedicated follower of Jacques Lacan expertly lashed into the corny structuralist’s romantic conviction that meaning ultimately resides in scientific method and language – in verse three Aretha is pitiless about Barthes’ use of diagrams, for instance – and throughout the song her fearsome voice convinces even the casual listener that the signified must always escape the signifier.
FAB
You may think that after the terminal scepticism and playful despondency of the post-structuralists theory itself had nowhere to go, and we were left with endless Beatles revivalists singing “Paperback Derrida”
Sir or madam will you read his book
It took him years to write and it’s worth a look
"Of Grammatology" or "Counterpath"
They’re all heavy slogs but you wanna read a paperback Derrida
Paperback Derridaaaaaah
or Dave Davies’ classic “Lets all drink to the death of the author” or the Dixiecups’ weird celebration “Eco Eco”. But in 1991 the Spice Girls brought a real breath of fresh theoretical exploration as their giant hit “Who Do You Think You Are?” presented the world with a bracing three and a half minute tour round the complexities of post-colonialism and identity politics in general (that the flipside was yet another cunning Beatles revival “He’s Said, She’s Said” was in this case only apt.)
ZOMBIES! WHERE ARE THE ZOMBIES? WE HAVE TO HAVE ZOMBIES!
From Sinatra to the Spice Girls, from Levi-Strauss to Baudrillard – a hectic four decades which Peter Barry in this very smart book sums up with panache. You’ll be reaching for Youtube or Spotify or even Grooveshark constantly as Peter Barry infuses new meaning into old chestnuts like “She’s Not There” by the Zombies and “The Windmills of Your Mind” by Noel Harrison. (Note : Peter Barry is not related to John Barry who recorded the Bond theme. That would have been cute, but it isn’t true.)
Highly recommended.
June 25, 2018
As a student, as an instructor and as a 'someone' helping others understanding the complex theories of literature, I did not find any better book than this one by Peter! I will recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand literary theories from the scratch and even the advanced students can use this book rather fairly!
December 29, 2020
I didn’t discover this book until halfway through a graduate level class on Postcolonial Theory. This would be after trying to keep my head above water while reading Derrida in the original language. I wish I’d read it years ago.
Despite its bland title and intimidating chapter headings, this book is very accessible. Each chapter takes a different ideological camp of literary theory –- from Post-structuralism to New Historicism –- and breaks it down into understandable terms. A brief history of each theory is given, along with an introduction to important scholars and influential works in the field. For me, the most helpful aspect was the practical application: the bullet pointed lists of what scholars from each camp actually do, and the mini-essays interpreting specific poems and short stories using the principles of each camp of literary criticism. (Several poems and short stories are included in the appendix and it was fascinating to see the same story interpreted differently depending on the chapter.)
For me, reading this book was like discovering the cipher to a code that I was already supposed to know. The articles for my class, which are littered with references to Foucault, textual deconstruction, Bhabha, and Narratology, are beginning to make sense. The genius of this book is its ability to take obtuse terms and abstract concepts and to bring them down to earth. The author writes in an easy going, casual voice, and isn’t afraid to poke fun at his own profession at times. After Derrida, it’s a breath of fresh air.
Despite its bland title and intimidating chapter headings, this book is very accessible. Each chapter takes a different ideological camp of literary theory –- from Post-structuralism to New Historicism –- and breaks it down into understandable terms. A brief history of each theory is given, along with an introduction to important scholars and influential works in the field. For me, the most helpful aspect was the practical application: the bullet pointed lists of what scholars from each camp actually do, and the mini-essays interpreting specific poems and short stories using the principles of each camp of literary criticism. (Several poems and short stories are included in the appendix and it was fascinating to see the same story interpreted differently depending on the chapter.)
For me, reading this book was like discovering the cipher to a code that I was already supposed to know. The articles for my class, which are littered with references to Foucault, textual deconstruction, Bhabha, and Narratology, are beginning to make sense. The genius of this book is its ability to take obtuse terms and abstract concepts and to bring them down to earth. The author writes in an easy going, casual voice, and isn’t afraid to poke fun at his own profession at times. After Derrida, it’s a breath of fresh air.
April 27, 2024
A fan of the writing, I am not.
It's stale. It's bloated. And it's dense.
You would think it would be something akin to a beginner's guide because of its title, Beginning Theory, but thanks to its obscure writing style, it doesn't feel like a beginner's guide.
There areprobably better books about literary and cultural theories out there. This one is not one of them, so therefore I do not recommend it.
It's stale. It's bloated. And it's dense.
You would think it would be something akin to a beginner's guide because of its title, Beginning Theory, but thanks to its obscure writing style, it doesn't feel like a beginner's guide.
There are
July 19, 2018
10/10 in fulfilling its purpose of introducing the students to the complex yet essential world of Literary Theory and Criticism.
It explains in an easy to understand language, a concise outline of various literary theories in their chronicle order. It attempts to explain the main theories through series of questions and answers, encouraging readers to think about the various aspects of theories an relate to them to a greater extent. The addition of resources at the end of each literary theory is also helpful for people interested in exploring the topics that interest them.
In short an excellent resource not only for English majors but for pure novices interested in Literary theory in general.
It explains in an easy to understand language, a concise outline of various literary theories in their chronicle order. It attempts to explain the main theories through series of questions and answers, encouraging readers to think about the various aspects of theories an relate to them to a greater extent. The addition of resources at the end of each literary theory is also helpful for people interested in exploring the topics that interest them.
In short an excellent resource not only for English majors but for pure novices interested in Literary theory in general.
March 24, 2011
This is an excellent introduction to literary theory. The different brands thereof are explained clearly in brief, easy-to-follow chapters.
My only complaint would be about the chapters on Feminist Criticism and Gay/Lesbian Criticism. I don't think either of these topics was covered well, as if Barry himself didn't fully understand the implications of their philosophical approach. Barry is British, so this might simply be because of a disconnect between the American version of Feminist Criticism I'm already familiar with and its British counterpart. But his tone in these chapters is somewhere between confused and doubting, and he fails to illuminate the broader implications of the theories advanced. Maybe, unintentionally, political conservativism got in the way objectivity. Whatever the case, these chapters need to be supplemented by additional reading.
The rest of the book really is fantastic. I'd recommend it for writers like me who want a basic understanding of the theoretical ideas without having the sludge through countless wordy texts to get there.
My only complaint would be about the chapters on Feminist Criticism and Gay/Lesbian Criticism. I don't think either of these topics was covered well, as if Barry himself didn't fully understand the implications of their philosophical approach. Barry is British, so this might simply be because of a disconnect between the American version of Feminist Criticism I'm already familiar with and its British counterpart. But his tone in these chapters is somewhere between confused and doubting, and he fails to illuminate the broader implications of the theories advanced. Maybe, unintentionally, political conservativism got in the way objectivity. Whatever the case, these chapters need to be supplemented by additional reading.
The rest of the book really is fantastic. I'd recommend it for writers like me who want a basic understanding of the theoretical ideas without having the sludge through countless wordy texts to get there.
December 30, 2012
Beginning Theory offers the literary studies student a fantastic primer to help navigate the often convoluted and complex domain of literary theory. Barry shows us that theory need not be daunting, and successfully manages to convey difficult concepts in a voice that is consistently conversational, and never dry. I appreciated his occasional interjection of self for the way in which it humanised the text. The book covers all the major theoretical approaches from Structuralism, through Psychoanalytic, Marxist, and feminist criticism, as well as newer areas such as Ecocriticism. Barry weaves the theoretical positions of each, within a historical framework. Since all theory arises out of distinct social, cultural and political processes, the historical backdrop provides an additional anchor for learning.
Although this is marketed as a beginner's guide, the breadth of coverage, and expert condensing of detail, makes it a must for any student of literary or cultural studies. I've revisited it again and again during my Masters, and it's now an invaluable addition to my study shelf.
Although this is marketed as a beginner's guide, the breadth of coverage, and expert condensing of detail, makes it a must for any student of literary or cultural studies. I've revisited it again and again during my Masters, and it's now an invaluable addition to my study shelf.
April 26, 2016
I remember sitting in a class on essay writing a few months ago where the professor asked us to write a paragraph and volunteer to read it out loud. When I read mine he made a remark (which I have, ironically, forgotten) to which my answer was that "well, it makes my essay more friendly." This seemed like an outrageous thing to value in an essay to the professor and I think he said something along the lines of "You want to give information, not make friends." I know, dumb. (needless to say I have been less than attentive of the rest of the classes; here's hoping I don't flunk it.)
Okay, so the thing about this book is that it's just so friendly, so full of character and not at all at runs the risk of being "uninformative" (cue the eye-rolling). In fact the humor has the effect of making the divulged information stick.
In the introduction to the 13th chapter he says that he has always "preferred to integrate information into a themed narrative." and I mean, job well done Mr. Barry.
It was really informative, full of helpful references and extremely unprejudiced. I can say a lot of good things about the book, but let's just say it was an absolute delight to read and leave it at that.
P.s. Just one thing though, can anyone explain the COVER to me?? dammed if I get it.
Okay, so the thing about this book is that it's just so friendly, so full of character and not at all at runs the risk of being "uninformative" (cue the eye-rolling). In fact the humor has the effect of making the divulged information stick.
In the introduction to the 13th chapter he says that he has always "preferred to integrate information into a themed narrative." and I mean, job well done Mr. Barry.
It was really informative, full of helpful references and extremely unprejudiced. I can say a lot of good things about the book, but let's just say it was an absolute delight to read and leave it at that.
P.s. Just one thing though, can anyone explain the COVER to me?? dammed if I get it.
December 20, 2023
veryy insightfull!!! would recommend if you have no experience with any theory applicable to literature, philosophy,…. and would like to expand your knowledge;))
February 3, 2025
Quite the comprehensive yet accessible introduction.
Peter Barry goes over most the major areas within literary and cultural theory, and introduces them well with the necessary figures and using easy to follow examples.
Reading this book is easier and more fun than one would expect and I much enjoyed the attention given to the figures playing central roles in theory as well as the events that changed the direction of thought, opinions, and trends.
Peter Barry goes over most the major areas within literary and cultural theory, and introduces them well with the necessary figures and using easy to follow examples.
Reading this book is easier and more fun than one would expect and I much enjoyed the attention given to the figures playing central roles in theory as well as the events that changed the direction of thought, opinions, and trends.
November 13, 2023
дякую пітеру за поглиблення мого спгс!
і за нагадування ставитися до серйозного з веселістю й навпаки.
пояснити поетику арістотеля на прикладі реклами кітячого корма 🤌🤌
люблю тебе, пітере.
хз як ставити оцінку підручнику, тому 4, бо я насолоджувалася, але не ексайтед
і за нагадування ставитися до серйозного з веселістю й навпаки.
пояснити поетику арістотеля на прикладі реклами кітячого корма 🤌🤌
люблю тебе, пітере.
хз як ставити оцінку підручнику, тому 4, бо я насолоджувалася, але не ексайтед
July 6, 2014
A nice, concise gloss of one scholar's estimation of theory's most important movements and themes. I was considering this as a possible text to use in an introductory theory class I'm teaching. Ultimately, there are three major reasons why I won't be using it.
1. Age. Even in its updated form, this book is more than a decade old. A lot can happen in a discipline in that amount of time, and students tend to see texts like this as definitive. I worry about setting them up to be not just name droppers, but even worse, old news name droppers.
2. Pedagogy. This format of tight, narrative-focused chapters that tie up many thinkers into a chapter-based -ism might work for old teaching models (like the quintessential college lecture that Barry likely used in his instruction along with most other UK academics) but there's not a great way to use this text in a more discussion-based and student-centric classroom.
3. Gloss. Finally, and most importantly, I think students who read this text as part of a college course should ask for their tuition money back. I was struck more than once that Barry's interactions with the original theoretical texts (from Aristotle to Greenblatt and Bhaba) were markedly different than mine. And it's not hard to determine why. We're different people. These primary texts are rich with subtle and playful reasoning. I had to tackle these texts on my own, and I had strong connections with the powerful theoretical ideas contained in a Foucault or a Derrida. The texts were dense, but, like Barry himself mentions in his introduction, effort is usually well rewarded. My job as a professor is to prepare, push, and reward that same effort in my students. We will never cover all the texts mentioned in these pages, but the skills my students gain in reading even a small subset will improve their intellectual success much more than an encyclopedic big picture view could.
So, I certainly recommend this as an excellent back pocket text for the enterprising student (or the faculty member hurriedly trying to brush up on a narrative of theory to use or resist in her own syllabus) but definitely not a classroom text.
1. Age. Even in its updated form, this book is more than a decade old. A lot can happen in a discipline in that amount of time, and students tend to see texts like this as definitive. I worry about setting them up to be not just name droppers, but even worse, old news name droppers.
2. Pedagogy. This format of tight, narrative-focused chapters that tie up many thinkers into a chapter-based -ism might work for old teaching models (like the quintessential college lecture that Barry likely used in his instruction along with most other UK academics) but there's not a great way to use this text in a more discussion-based and student-centric classroom.
3. Gloss. Finally, and most importantly, I think students who read this text as part of a college course should ask for their tuition money back. I was struck more than once that Barry's interactions with the original theoretical texts (from Aristotle to Greenblatt and Bhaba) were markedly different than mine. And it's not hard to determine why. We're different people. These primary texts are rich with subtle and playful reasoning. I had to tackle these texts on my own, and I had strong connections with the powerful theoretical ideas contained in a Foucault or a Derrida. The texts were dense, but, like Barry himself mentions in his introduction, effort is usually well rewarded. My job as a professor is to prepare, push, and reward that same effort in my students. We will never cover all the texts mentioned in these pages, but the skills my students gain in reading even a small subset will improve their intellectual success much more than an encyclopedic big picture view could.
So, I certainly recommend this as an excellent back pocket text for the enterprising student (or the faculty member hurriedly trying to brush up on a narrative of theory to use or resist in her own syllabus) but definitely not a classroom text.
March 7, 2020
I taught this book at Regent in ENGL 485 (Senior Seminar for English majors).
Introduction
Ch. 1: Theory before 'theory'
Ch. 2: Structuralism
Ch. 3: Post-structuralism and deconstruction
Ch. 4: Postmodernism
Ch. 5: Psychoanalytic criticism
Ch. 6: Feminist criticism
Ch. 7: Queer theory
Ch. 8: Marxist criticism
Ch. 9: New historicism and cultural materialism
Ch. 10: Postcolonial criticism
Ch. 11: Stylistics
Ch. 12: Narratology
Ch. 13: Ecocriticism
Ch. 14: Literary theory – a history in ten events
Ch. 15: Theory after 'Theory'
Introduction
Ch. 1: Theory before 'theory'
Ch. 2: Structuralism
Ch. 3: Post-structuralism and deconstruction
Ch. 4: Postmodernism
Ch. 5: Psychoanalytic criticism
Ch. 6: Feminist criticism
Ch. 7: Queer theory
Ch. 8: Marxist criticism
Ch. 9: New historicism and cultural materialism
Ch. 10: Postcolonial criticism
Ch. 11: Stylistics
Ch. 12: Narratology
Ch. 13: Ecocriticism
Ch. 14: Literary theory – a history in ten events
Ch. 15: Theory after 'Theory'
December 22, 2025
ইন্টেলেকচুয়াল কথাবার্তায় প্রায়ই কিছু কিছু নাম বা পরিভাষা ( termoniologies) ঘুরেফিরে আসে যেমন- মিশেল ফুঁকো, ডিকনস্ট্র্যাকশন, অরিয়েন্টালিজম ইত্যাদি নানান কিছু। আমার তাত্ত্বিক জ্ঞান প্রায় শূন্যের কোঠায়। Peter Barry সাহেবের এই বইয়ের মাধ্যমে তত্ত্ব জগতের কিছু তালাশ পেলাম। অনেক কিছু জেনেছি আবার অনেক কিছু বুঝিনি তবে বইটি বেশ সুলিখিত। লেখক সুন্দর করে স্টেপ বাই স্টেপ একেকটা জিনিস ব্যাখ্যা করেছেন। তাত্ত্বিক পর্যালোচনায় উৎসাহী পাঠকদের প্রথম সবক হিসেবে বইটি বেশ দারুণ।
(৩.৫*/৫)
(৩.৫*/৫)
February 20, 2017
Read this for Critical Theory. It worked for the class, but half the time I had no idea what the author was talking about and only sort of understood after class discussions. I know the point of theory is that there is no bottom line but it would have been extremely helpful to have one for those of us who don't care for theory that much and just need a basic understanding.
November 21, 2023
Pretty fricken great book I enjoyed this. I stare at it on my bookshelf as a write this! So if my year 12 teacher finds my review, it was me that stole the books. cheers legend
December 18, 2017
Into the rubbish bin. What a load of crap... A perfect example of " those who cannot write, tell you what to think about writing". No thanks.
Read
December 16, 2024i had to read every. single. page. for my theory class so i am rightfully including this on my goodreads challenge
October 18, 2025
(4.5)
I love this shit! Classic 'I wish I'd read this during uni', I'm afraid that is the way of these things, sometimes. But perhaps I wasn't ready for it yet. Oh well, I'm into it now!
Mr. Barry is SUCH a great writer, clear, insightful and witty. He takes your hand and guides you through the foggier environs...
I've dipped me toe properly now and I'll continue to explore new depths in future, hopefully.
Additionally, I find the rise and fall of this feverish interest in new ways of thinking about the world is such a fascinating window into the 20th Century. Because frankly, the era is over - there are no news stories about theory, or high profile intellectual battles being fought in the mainstream. We've sadly regressed into two poles of blooming fascism and those opposed to it - there is no room for the nuance contained here in the current media landscape. I wonder if the flourishing of all these new intellectual possibilities will prove another facet of the extraordinary cultural shifts that the events early in the previous century ushered in. I mean, to imagine the institution of something as radical as a national health service seems alien to modern England. Yet it happened.
Anyway, waffling on. I find it hugely useful and inspiring to begin to properly engage with this world again, and do believe that the intellectual curiosity, scrutiny, and (most of all) passionate discussion is something I and We need to keep carrying the flag for.
I love this shit! Classic 'I wish I'd read this during uni', I'm afraid that is the way of these things, sometimes. But perhaps I wasn't ready for it yet. Oh well, I'm into it now!
Mr. Barry is SUCH a great writer, clear, insightful and witty. He takes your hand and guides you through the foggier environs...
I've dipped me toe properly now and I'll continue to explore new depths in future, hopefully.
Additionally, I find the rise and fall of this feverish interest in new ways of thinking about the world is such a fascinating window into the 20th Century. Because frankly, the era is over - there are no news stories about theory, or high profile intellectual battles being fought in the mainstream. We've sadly regressed into two poles of blooming fascism and those opposed to it - there is no room for the nuance contained here in the current media landscape. I wonder if the flourishing of all these new intellectual possibilities will prove another facet of the extraordinary cultural shifts that the events early in the previous century ushered in. I mean, to imagine the institution of something as radical as a national health service seems alien to modern England. Yet it happened.
Anyway, waffling on. I find it hugely useful and inspiring to begin to properly engage with this world again, and do believe that the intellectual curiosity, scrutiny, and (most of all) passionate discussion is something I and We need to keep carrying the flag for.
August 4, 2017
The FIRST EVER BOOK I bought, when I came to English Department for an easy start to all the literary theories. It's a reader friendly book & quite handy to go through all the basics of the theories.
August 25, 2020
Brilliant introduction to literary theory. A must - have for literature students.
June 5, 2025
veľmi príjemné, ale očakával som viacej praxe a trikov
September 5, 2025
I'll never view a piece of media the same way after reading this
November 2, 2017
Again, I haven't completely finished this book during the course BUT I feel like I've read enough to say that "I've read it". It was quite interesting but since the teacher told us that the post-structuralist analysis was completely wrong, I'm only giving it 2 stars.
January 31, 2025
Dunning-Krugered the fuck out of me.
August 15, 2024
Reading this overview, one would be forgiven for thinking that all the theory and criticism of the last century took place in England and America. I was also disappointed that there was no treatment of phenomenology. Otherwise, I found it very helpful for plotting the historical and intellectual trajectory of the discipline as an ongoing dialectic of historical and aesthetic valences.
January 18, 2021
Introduction
p.2 – All the critical approaches described in this book are a reaction against something which went before, and a prior knowledge of these things cannot be assumed.
Likewise, the currently successful versions of Marxist, feminist, psychoanalytic and linguistic criticism all define themselves against earlier versions of each of these.
Some current ideas in critical theory
p.33 – no overarching fixed “truths” can ever be established. The results of all forms of intellectual enquiry are provisional only. There is no such thing as a fixed and reliable truth.
Structuralism
p.38 – Structuralism is the belief that that things cannot be understood in isolation – they have to be seen in the context of the larger structures they are part of.
p.48 – What structuralist critics do: they analyze (mainly) prose narratives, relating the text to some larger containing structure, such as literary genre, intertextual connections, underlying narrative structure, recurrent patterns and motifs.
Post-structuralism and deconstruction
p.59 – One of structuralism’s characteristic views is the notion that language doesn’t just reflect or record the world: rather, it shapes it, so that how we see is what we see. The post-structuralist maintains that the consequences of this belief are that we enter a universe of radical uncertainty, since we can have no access to any fixed landmark which is beyond linguistic processing, and hence we have to certain standard by which to measure anything.
p.70 – What post-structuralist critics do: they read the text “against itself” so as to expose what might be thought od as the “textual subconscious,” where meanings are expressed which may be directly contrary to the surface meaning.
Postmodernism
p.87 – What postmodernist critics do: they discover postmodernist themes and explore their implications. They foreground “intertextual elements,” such as parody, pastiche, and allusion that reference between different texts. They foreground irony, and challenge the distinction between high and low culture.
Psychoanalytic Criticism
p.100 – What Freudian psychoanalytic critics do: they give central importance in literary interpretation to the distinction between the conscious and the unconscious mind (overt and covert content). They pay close attention to unconscious motives and feelings of the author and characters.
p.110 – What Lacanian critics do: They pay close attention to unconscious motives and feelings, but instead of excavating for those of the author and characters, they search out those of the text itself, uncovering contradictory undercurrents of meaning – this is a way of defining the process of deconstruction. They use Lacanian analytical tools, such as the mirror-stage or sovereignty of the subconscious.
Feminist criticism
p.128 – What feminist critics do: they rethink the canon, aiming at the rediscovery of texts written by women and revalue women’s experience. They examine representations of women and challenge representations of women as “other.” They examine the power relations and the role of language in making what is social and constructed seem transparent.
Queer Criticism
p.143 – What queer critics do: they identify and establish a canon of queer work, and expose homophobia of mainstream culture and criticism.
Marxist Criticism
p.157 – Influence of Louis Althusser (1918-1990): Ideology is a system of representations (images, myths, ideas or concepts) endowed with an existence and a historical role at the heart of a given society. (Philip Goldstein, The Politics of Literary Theory: An Introduction to Marxist Criticism, 1990, p.23)
Decentering is a key term in Althusser to indicate structures which have no essence, or focus, or centre. Again, this is partly a way of avoiding the view that the economic base is the essence of society and the superstructure merely a secondary reflection. The notion of decentering implies that there is no overall unity: art has a relative autonomy and is determined by the economic level only.
p.158 – Hegemony: Antonio Gramsci (1891-1934) contrasts rule, which is direct political control, which uses force when necessary, and hegemony, which is a social process organized by specific and dominant meanings, values, beliefs, and world-views. It is an internalized form of social control, which makes certain views seem “natural” or invisible, so that thing seem “the way things are.”
p.161 – What Marxist critics do: they make a division between overt (manifest or surface) and covert (hidden) content and relate them to class struggle and transitions to industrial capitalism.
New historicism and cultural materialism
p.166 – New Historicism is a method based on the parallel reading of literary and non-literary texts, usually of the same historical period.
p.172 – What new historicists do: they juxtapose literary and non-literary texts, trying to defamiliarize canonical texts, and focus attention on issues of state power, patriarchal structures, and colonialism.
p.175 – Cultural materialism: The British critic Graham Hoderness describes cultural materialism as “a politicised form of historiography.”
p.176 – It focuses attention to: historical context, theoretical method, political commitment, and textual analysis.
p.180 – What cultural materialist critics do: they read to recover histories and the context of exploitation from which it emerged. They foreground elements which caused there histories to be lost in the first place. They use a combination of Marxist and feminist approaches to the text to fracture the previous dominance of conservative social, political, and religious assumptions.
Postcolonial criticism
p.185 – Postcolonial criticism emerged as a distinct category only in the 1990s.
One significant effect of postcolonial criticism is to undermine the universalist claims.
p.186 – Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978) exposed Eurocentric universalism which takes for granted the superiority of what is European or Western and the inferiority of what is not. He identifies a European cultural tradition of Orientalism, which is a particular and long-standing way of identifying the East as “other” and inferior to the West.
p.192 – What postcolonial critics do: they reject the claims to universalism made on behalf of canonical Western literature and culture. They examine representations of other cultures; they foreground questions of cultural difference and diversity; they celebrate hybridity, whereby individuals belong simultaneously to more than one culture (that of the coloniser through colonial school systems, and that of the colonized, through local and oral traditions).
p.2 – All the critical approaches described in this book are a reaction against something which went before, and a prior knowledge of these things cannot be assumed.
Likewise, the currently successful versions of Marxist, feminist, psychoanalytic and linguistic criticism all define themselves against earlier versions of each of these.
Some current ideas in critical theory
p.33 – no overarching fixed “truths” can ever be established. The results of all forms of intellectual enquiry are provisional only. There is no such thing as a fixed and reliable truth.
Structuralism
p.38 – Structuralism is the belief that that things cannot be understood in isolation – they have to be seen in the context of the larger structures they are part of.
p.48 – What structuralist critics do: they analyze (mainly) prose narratives, relating the text to some larger containing structure, such as literary genre, intertextual connections, underlying narrative structure, recurrent patterns and motifs.
Post-structuralism and deconstruction
p.59 – One of structuralism’s characteristic views is the notion that language doesn’t just reflect or record the world: rather, it shapes it, so that how we see is what we see. The post-structuralist maintains that the consequences of this belief are that we enter a universe of radical uncertainty, since we can have no access to any fixed landmark which is beyond linguistic processing, and hence we have to certain standard by which to measure anything.
p.70 – What post-structuralist critics do: they read the text “against itself” so as to expose what might be thought od as the “textual subconscious,” where meanings are expressed which may be directly contrary to the surface meaning.
Postmodernism
p.87 – What postmodernist critics do: they discover postmodernist themes and explore their implications. They foreground “intertextual elements,” such as parody, pastiche, and allusion that reference between different texts. They foreground irony, and challenge the distinction between high and low culture.
Psychoanalytic Criticism
p.100 – What Freudian psychoanalytic critics do: they give central importance in literary interpretation to the distinction between the conscious and the unconscious mind (overt and covert content). They pay close attention to unconscious motives and feelings of the author and characters.
p.110 – What Lacanian critics do: They pay close attention to unconscious motives and feelings, but instead of excavating for those of the author and characters, they search out those of the text itself, uncovering contradictory undercurrents of meaning – this is a way of defining the process of deconstruction. They use Lacanian analytical tools, such as the mirror-stage or sovereignty of the subconscious.
Feminist criticism
p.128 – What feminist critics do: they rethink the canon, aiming at the rediscovery of texts written by women and revalue women’s experience. They examine representations of women and challenge representations of women as “other.” They examine the power relations and the role of language in making what is social and constructed seem transparent.
Queer Criticism
p.143 – What queer critics do: they identify and establish a canon of queer work, and expose homophobia of mainstream culture and criticism.
Marxist Criticism
p.157 – Influence of Louis Althusser (1918-1990): Ideology is a system of representations (images, myths, ideas or concepts) endowed with an existence and a historical role at the heart of a given society. (Philip Goldstein, The Politics of Literary Theory: An Introduction to Marxist Criticism, 1990, p.23)
Decentering is a key term in Althusser to indicate structures which have no essence, or focus, or centre. Again, this is partly a way of avoiding the view that the economic base is the essence of society and the superstructure merely a secondary reflection. The notion of decentering implies that there is no overall unity: art has a relative autonomy and is determined by the economic level only.
p.158 – Hegemony: Antonio Gramsci (1891-1934) contrasts rule, which is direct political control, which uses force when necessary, and hegemony, which is a social process organized by specific and dominant meanings, values, beliefs, and world-views. It is an internalized form of social control, which makes certain views seem “natural” or invisible, so that thing seem “the way things are.”
p.161 – What Marxist critics do: they make a division between overt (manifest or surface) and covert (hidden) content and relate them to class struggle and transitions to industrial capitalism.
New historicism and cultural materialism
p.166 – New Historicism is a method based on the parallel reading of literary and non-literary texts, usually of the same historical period.
p.172 – What new historicists do: they juxtapose literary and non-literary texts, trying to defamiliarize canonical texts, and focus attention on issues of state power, patriarchal structures, and colonialism.
p.175 – Cultural materialism: The British critic Graham Hoderness describes cultural materialism as “a politicised form of historiography.”
p.176 – It focuses attention to: historical context, theoretical method, political commitment, and textual analysis.
p.180 – What cultural materialist critics do: they read to recover histories and the context of exploitation from which it emerged. They foreground elements which caused there histories to be lost in the first place. They use a combination of Marxist and feminist approaches to the text to fracture the previous dominance of conservative social, political, and religious assumptions.
Postcolonial criticism
p.185 – Postcolonial criticism emerged as a distinct category only in the 1990s.
One significant effect of postcolonial criticism is to undermine the universalist claims.
p.186 – Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978) exposed Eurocentric universalism which takes for granted the superiority of what is European or Western and the inferiority of what is not. He identifies a European cultural tradition of Orientalism, which is a particular and long-standing way of identifying the East as “other” and inferior to the West.
p.192 – What postcolonial critics do: they reject the claims to universalism made on behalf of canonical Western literature and culture. They examine representations of other cultures; they foreground questions of cultural difference and diversity; they celebrate hybridity, whereby individuals belong simultaneously to more than one culture (that of the coloniser through colonial school systems, and that of the colonized, through local and oral traditions).
November 16, 2025
I literally fell asleep reading this book twice. I can't rate this any higher than one star. For your information, I'm a straight A student and have carried my fair share of dead classes. Barry's just melatonin in human form; he's too powerfully boring for even me.
Barry's book is peak terrible academic writing. There's some interesting theory in there, but it's bogged down by the overly dense language purple enough to dye the pages. Also, it's horribly formatted. Who in the hell thought it would be a good idea to cramp the pages with small, single-spaced text? Also hello, why aren't the important terms more clearly marked, like in bold or something? I guess it fits Barry's writing style of prioritizing fancy words over comprehension, but it's definitely not student or beginner-friendly, despite what this book's title says.
On the bright side, trying to read just one chapter of this textbook is an effective cure for insomnia.
Barry's book is peak terrible academic writing. There's some interesting theory in there, but it's bogged down by the overly dense language purple enough to dye the pages. Also, it's horribly formatted. Who in the hell thought it would be a good idea to cramp the pages with small, single-spaced text? Also hello, why aren't the important terms more clearly marked, like in bold or something? I guess it fits Barry's writing style of prioritizing fancy words over comprehension, but it's definitely not student or beginner-friendly, despite what this book's title says.
On the bright side, trying to read just one chapter of this textbook is an effective cure for insomnia.
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July 26, 2025Διάβασα αυτό το σύγγραμμα για το πρώτο εξάμηνο του μεταπτυχιακού Δημιουργικής Γραφής στο ΕΑΠ, σε μετάφραση.
Παρά τον όγκο πληροφορίας στη θεωρία, διαβάζεται πραγματικά άνετα. Ο Μπάρι κάνει αυτό που πρέπει να κάνουν όλοι οι διδάσκοντες: καταλαβαίνει τόσο καλά το αντικείμενο, που το εξηγεί απλά και κατανοητά. Το κάνει εύκολο.
Στην ουσία, αυτό το βιβλίο είναι εισαγωγή στη θεωρία της λογοτεχνίας, στην ιστορία της εξέλιξης της κριτικής και ταυτόχρονα ανάλυση της κάθε κριτικής θεωρίας. Έχει σύνοψη, το ξεχωριστό τμήμα "Κάτσε και σκέψου" σε κάθε κεφάλαιο, παραδείγματα από κριτικές σε εμβληματικά έργα του παρελθόντος και γενικώς επιστρατεύει κάθε μέσο για τη διδασκαλία της κάθε θεωρίας.
Φυσικά, μιας και είναι εισαγωγή, απλώς εισάγει στην κάθε θεωρία. Αλλά το κάνει αριστουργηματικά.
Παρά τον όγκο πληροφορίας στη θεωρία, διαβάζεται πραγματικά άνετα. Ο Μπάρι κάνει αυτό που πρέπει να κάνουν όλοι οι διδάσκοντες: καταλαβαίνει τόσο καλά το αντικείμενο, που το εξηγεί απλά και κατανοητά. Το κάνει εύκολο.
Στην ουσία, αυτό το βιβλίο είναι εισαγωγή στη θεωρία της λογοτεχνίας, στην ιστορία της εξέλιξης της κριτικής και ταυτόχρονα ανάλυση της κάθε κριτικής θεωρίας. Έχει σύνοψη, το ξεχωριστό τμήμα "Κάτσε και σκέψου" σε κάθε κεφάλαιο, παραδείγματα από κριτικές σε εμβληματικά έργα του παρελθόντος και γενικώς επιστρατεύει κάθε μέσο για τη διδασκαλία της κάθε θεωρίας.
Φυσικά, μιας και είναι εισαγωγή, απλώς εισάγει στην κάθε θεωρία. Αλλά το κάνει αριστουργηματικά.
June 11, 2024
Surprisingly accessible. Much easier to get through than I anticipated. I think I would still point to An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory as my favorite lit crit book so far, but this has its merits. Most of the time, Barry insists on conveying information in a narrative form, talking through paragraphs, rather than relying on lists, boxes, or diagrams for explanations. I don't think this is always the best approach, but at least his writing was mostly easy to understand. Still, there were many names, titles, and references I didn't know, so much went over my head.
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