Key Concepts In Literary Theory

Julian Wolfreys, Ruth Robbins and Kenneth Womack

The second, revised edition of Key Concepts in Literary Theory has been expanded in two of its three sections, `Concepts and Terms’, and `Chronology of Critical Thinkers, with Bibliogra- phies’. With the intention of providing a more comprehensive coverage, and so filling in what, in retrospect, now appear obvious omissions, more than eighty terms and their definitions have been added to the first part of the volume. It is hoped that the changes provide additional usefulness to the reader, while, equally, the volume has retained the accessibility, ease of refer- ence, and `portability’ of the first volume. Of the inclusions, the

majority are drawn from psychoanalysis, reflecting the continued and sustained interest in this particular approach to literary studies, even while the fortunes of other discourses appear to have waned somewhat. Of the remaining other inclusions, several are `formalist’ in nature, concerned with grammatical, linguistic,

and rhetorical terminology that has found a renewed currency in particular areas of discursively focused literary theory.