Literary and Critical Theory

New Titles and Key Backlist

Routledge's Literary and Critical Theory books offer everything you could need from textbooks to research monographs. Take a look at Using Critical Theory, Lois Tyson’s introductory guide to the field, or The Routledge Queer Studies Reader, a comprehensive resource and textbook to this vibrant and interdisciplinary area. You can also see our extensive range of research and reference including the Routledge Companions series.

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Contemporary Critical Theory

  1. Ecocriticism: The Essential Reader

    Edited by Ken Hiltner

    Series: Routledge Literature Readers

    Ecocriticism: The Essential Reader charts the growth of this important field. The first-wave ecocriticism section focuses on key readings from the 1960s to the 1990s. The second-wave ecocriticism section goes on to consider a range of exciting contemporary trends, including environmental...

    To Be Published December 30th 2013 by Routledge

  2. Modernism and Literature

    An Introduction and Reader

    Edited by Mia Carter, Alan Friedman

    This volume offers a comprehensive representation of the exciting, pivotal, and urgent nature of literary Modernism, as well as more recent approaches including the "global turn." Modernism can be difficult to understand without an awareness of contemporary concerns, so Mia Carter...

    Published February 27th 2013 by Routledge

  3. Global Literary Theory

    An Anthology

    Edited by Richard Lane

    Global Literary Theory: An Anthology comprises a selection of classic, must-read essays alongside contemporary and global extracts, providing an engaging and timely overview of literary theory. The volume is thoroughly introduced in the General Introduction and Section Introductions and each piece...

    Published April 1st 2013 by Routledge

  4. Literature and the Bible

    A Reader

    Edited by Jo Carruthers, Mark Knight, Andrew Tate

    Series: Routledge Literature Readers

    The western literary tradition has a long and complex relationship with the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Authors draw on the Bible in all sorts of ways and for different reasons, and there is also the myriad of subconscious ways through which the biblical text enters literary culture. Biblical...

    To Be Published August 18th 2013 by Routledge

  5. Literature and the Human

    Theory, Criticism, Practice

    By Andy Mousley

    Why does literature matter? What is its human value? Historical approaches to literature have for several decades prevailed over the idea that literary works can deepen our understanding of fundamental questions of existence. This book re-affirms literature's existential value by developing a new...

    Published May 15th 2013 by Routledge

  6. Orality and Literacy

    30th Anniversary Edition

    By Walter J. Ong

    Series: New Accents

    Walter J. Ong’s classic work provides a fascinating insight into the social effects of oral, written, printed and electronic technologies, and their impact on philosophical, theological, scientific and literary thought. This thirtieth anniversary edition – coinciding with Ong’s centenary year –...

    Published September 27th 2012 by Routledge

  7. The Demonic

    Literature and Experience

    By Ewan Fernie

    Are we either good or bad, and do we really know the difference? Why do we want what we cannot have, and even to be what we’re not? Can we desire others without wanting to possess them? Can we open to others and not risk possession ourselves? And where, in these cases, do we draw the line? Ewan...

    Published November 7th 2012 by Routledge

  8. The Future of Trauma Theory

    Contemporary Literary Criticism

    Edited by Gert Buelens, Samuel Durrant, Robert Eaglestone

    This collection analyses the future of ‘trauma theory’, a major theoretical discourse in contemporary criticism and theory. The chapters advance the current state of the field by exploring new areas, asking new questions and making new connections. Part one, History and Culture, begins by...

    To Be Published October 8th 2013 by Routledge

  9. The Gothic World

    Edited by Glennis Byron, Dale Townshend

    Series: Routledge Worlds

    The Gothic World offers an overview of this popular field whilst also extending critical debate in exciting new directions such as film, politics, fashion, architecture, fine art and cyberculture. Structured around the principles of time, space and practice, and including a detailed general...

    To Be Published September 8th 2013 by Routledge

  10. Modernism and Literature

    An Introduction and Reader

    Edited by Mia Carter, Alan Friedman

    This volume offers a comprehensive representation of the exciting, pivotal, and urgent nature of literary Modernism, as well as more recent approaches including the "global turn." Modernism can be difficult to understand without an awareness of contemporary concerns, so Mia Carter...

    Published February 27th 2013 by Routledge

  11. Global Literary Theory

    An Anthology

    Edited by Richard Lane

    Global Literary Theory: An Anthology comprises a selection of classic, must-read essays alongside contemporary and global extracts, providing an engaging and timely overview of literary theory. The volume is thoroughly introduced in the General Introduction and Section Introductions and each piece...

    Published April 1st 2013 by Routledge

  12. Ecocriticism: The Essential Reader

    Edited by Ken Hiltner

    Series: Routledge Literature Readers

    Ecocriticism: The Essential Reader charts the growth of this important field. The first-wave ecocriticism section focuses on key readings from the 1960s to the 1990s. The second-wave ecocriticism section goes on to consider a range of exciting contemporary trends, including environmental...

    To Be Published December 30th 2013 by Routledge

  13. Literature and the Bible

    A Reader

    Edited by Jo Carruthers, Mark Knight, Andrew Tate

    Series: Routledge Literature Readers

    The western literary tradition has a long and complex relationship with the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Authors draw on the Bible in all sorts of ways and for different reasons, and there is also the myriad of subconscious ways through which the biblical text enters literary culture. Biblical...

    To Be Published August 18th 2013 by Routledge

  14. Literature and the Human

    Theory, Criticism, Practice

    By Andy Mousley

    Why does literature matter? What is its human value? Historical approaches to literature have for several decades prevailed over the idea that literary works can deepen our understanding of fundamental questions of existence. This book re-affirms literature's existential value by developing a new...

    Published May 15th 2013 by Routledge

  15. Orality and Literacy

    30th Anniversary Edition

    By Walter J. Ong

    Series: New Accents

    Walter J. Ong’s classic work provides a fascinating insight into the social effects of oral, written, printed and electronic technologies, and their impact on philosophical, theological, scientific and literary thought. This thirtieth anniversary edition – coinciding with Ong’s centenary year –...

    Published September 27th 2012 by Routledge

  16. The Demonic

    Literature and Experience

    By Ewan Fernie

    Are we either good or bad, and do we really know the difference? Why do we want what we cannot have, and even to be what we’re not? Can we desire others without wanting to possess them? Can we open to others and not risk possession ourselves? And where, in these cases, do we draw the line? Ewan...

    Published November 7th 2012 by Routledge

  17. The Future of Trauma Theory

    Contemporary Literary Criticism

    Edited by Gert Buelens, Samuel Durrant, Robert Eaglestone

    This collection analyses the future of ‘trauma theory’, a major theoretical discourse in contemporary criticism and theory. The chapters advance the current state of the field by exploring new areas, asking new questions and making new connections. Part one, History and Culture, begins by...

    To Be Published October 8th 2013 by Routledge

  18. The Gothic World

    Edited by Glennis Byron, Dale Townshend

    Series: Routledge Worlds

    The Gothic World offers an overview of this popular field whilst also extending critical debate in exciting new directions such as film, politics, fashion, architecture, fine art and cyberculture. Structured around the principles of time, space and practice, and including a detailed general...

    To Be Published September 8th 2013 by Routledge

  19. Theory After 'Theory'

    Edited by Jane Elliott, Derek Attridge

    This volume argues that theory, far from being dead, has undergone major shifts in order to come to terms with the most urgent cultural and political questions of today. Offering an overview of theory’s new directions, this groundbreaking collection includes essays on affect, biopolitics,...

    Published March 22nd 2011 by Routledge

  20. Theory and the Disappearing Future

    On de Man, On Benjamin

    By Tom Cohen, Claire Colebrook, J. Hillis Miller, with a manuscript by Paul de Man

    Paul de Man is often associated with an era of ‘high theory’, an era it is argued may now be coming to a close. This book, written by three leading contemporary scholars, includes both a transcript and facsimile print of a previously unpublished text by de Man of his handwritten notes for a lecture...

    Published November 9th 2011 by Routledge

  21. Using Critical Theory

    How to Read and Write About Literature, 2nd Edition

    By Lois Tyson

    Explaining both why theory is important and how to use it, Lois Tyson introduces beginning students of literature to this often daunting area in a friendly and approachable style. The new edition of this textbook is clearly structured with chapters based on major theories that students are expected...

    Published November 15th 2011 by Routledge

  22. Critical Theory Today

    A User-Friendly Guide, 2nd Edition

    By Lois Tyson

    This new edition of the classic guide offers a thorough and accessible introduction to contemporary critical theory. It provides in-depth coverage of the most common approaches to literary analysis today: feminism, psychoanalysis, Marxism, reader-response theory, new criticism, structuralism and...

    Published August 13th 2006 by Routledge

  23. The Routledge Queer Studies Reader

    Edited by Donald Hall, Annamarie Jagose

    Series: Routledge Literature Readers

    The Routledge Queer Studies Reader provides a comprehensive resource for students and scholars working in this vibrant and interdisciplinary field. The book traces the emergence and development of Queer Studies as a field of scholarship, presenting key critical essays alongside more recent...

    Published May 30th 2012 by Routledge

  24. World Literature

    A Reader

    Edited by Theo D'haen, César Domínguez, Mads Thomsen

    Series: Routledge Literature Readers

    World Literature is an increasingly influential subject in literary studies, which has led to the re-framing of contemporary ideas of ‘national literatures’, language and translation. World Literature: A Reader brings together thirty essential readings which display the theoretical foundations of...

    Published May 30th 2012 by Routledge

  25. Contemporary Literature: The Basics

    By Suman Gupta

    Series: The Basics

    ‘Contemporary Literature’ is among the most popular areas of literary study but it can be a difficult one to define. This book equips readers with the necessary tools to take an analytical and systematic approach to contemporary texts. The author provides answers to some of the critical questions...

    Published October 25th 2011 by Routledge

  26. The Routledge Companion to Semiotics

    Edited by Paul Cobley

    Series: Routledge Companions

    The Routledge Companion to Semiotics provides the ideal introduction to semiotics, containing engaging essays from an impressive range of international leaders in the field. Topics covered include: the history, development, and uses of semiotics key theorists, including Saussure, Peirce and...

    Published July 28th 2009 by Routledge

  27. Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion

    By Jack Zipes

    Series: Routledge Classics

    The fairy tale is arguably one of the most important cultural and social influences on children's lives. But until the first publication of Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion, little attention had been paid to the ways in which the writers and collectors of tales used traditional forms and...

    Published August 30th 2011 by Routledge

  28. Bodies That Matter

    On the Discursive Limits of Sex

    By Judith Butler

    Series: Routledge Classics

    In Bodies That Matter, renowned theorist and philosopher Judith Butler argues that theories of gender need to return to the most material dimension of sex and sexuality: the body. Butler offers a brilliant reworking of the body, examining how the power of heterosexual hegemony forms the "matter" of...

    Published April 3rd 2011 by Routledge

  29. A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Sublime and Beautiful

    By Edmund Burke

    Series: Routledge Classics

    Edited with an introduction and notes by James T. Boulton. 'One of the greatest essays ever written on art.'– The Guardian Edmund Burke’s A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful is one of the most important works of aesthetics ever published. Whilst many...

    Published January 31st 2008 by Routledge