Cultural Criticism, Literary Theory, Poststructuralism

by Vincent B. Leitch

Leitch argues for the use of poststructural theory in cultural criticism. He maintains that deconstruction remains crucial for truly critical approach to cultural studies. The turn toward "dis-course" and away from "literature" has led to a resurgence of cultural criticism, a mode of analysis revitalized and reformed by the arrival of "theory." Leitch illustrates the weak points of influential predecessors, showing how poststructuralism offers useful advances over reigning modes of critical inquiry. Leitch develops positions on key social formations and cultural critique; authorship and intention; "poetic" discourse and the social text; literary genre and cultural convention; minority literatures and "general poetics"; textual theory and analysis; and Birmingham's Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies and poststructuralism. He draws on the work of Barthes, Deleuze, de Man, Derrida, Foucault, Jameson, Kristeva, Lentricchia, Lyotard, Said, and Scholes.

Genres: Nonfiction

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Leonard Pierce]

This book isn't all that well known outside of academia, I guess, but it's a really nice bit of work: nothing original, just a very solid, comprehensive and fair overview of the three pillars of modern theory.