The Event of Literature

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Aesthetics, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Books & Reading
Cover of the book The Event of Literature by Terry Eagleton, Yale University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Terry Eagleton ISBN: 9780300182590
Publisher: Yale University Press Publication: May 29, 2012
Imprint: Yale University Press Language: English
Author: Terry Eagleton
ISBN: 9780300182590
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication: May 29, 2012
Imprint: Yale University Press
Language: English

In this characteristically concise, witty, and lucid book, Terry Eagleton turns his attention to the questions we should ask about literature, but rarely do. What is literature? Can we even speak of "literature" at all? What do different literary theories tell us about what texts mean and do? In throwing new light on these and other questions he has raised in previous best-sellers, Eagleton offers a new theory of what we mean by literature. He also shows what it is that a great many different literary theories have in common.

In a highly unusual combination of critical theory and analytic philosophy, the author sees all literary work, from novels to poems, as a strategy to contain a reality that seeks to thwart that containment, and in doing so throws up new problems that the work tries to resolve. The "event" of literature, Eagleton argues, consists in this continual transformative encounter, unique and endlessly repeatable. Freewheeling through centuries of critical ideas, he sheds light on the place of literature in our culture, and in doing so reaffirms the value and validity of literary thought today.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this characteristically concise, witty, and lucid book, Terry Eagleton turns his attention to the questions we should ask about literature, but rarely do. What is literature? Can we even speak of "literature" at all? What do different literary theories tell us about what texts mean and do? In throwing new light on these and other questions he has raised in previous best-sellers, Eagleton offers a new theory of what we mean by literature. He also shows what it is that a great many different literary theories have in common.

In a highly unusual combination of critical theory and analytic philosophy, the author sees all literary work, from novels to poems, as a strategy to contain a reality that seeks to thwart that containment, and in doing so throws up new problems that the work tries to resolve. The "event" of literature, Eagleton argues, consists in this continual transformative encounter, unique and endlessly repeatable. Freewheeling through centuries of critical ideas, he sheds light on the place of literature in our culture, and in doing so reaffirms the value and validity of literary thought today.

More books from Yale University Press

Cover of the book The Somme by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book The Poetry of Pop by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book Difficult Death by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book Introduction to Metaphysics by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book Local Redistribution and Local Democracy: Interest Groups and the Courts by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book Serfdom, Society, and the Arts in Imperial Russia by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book Cervantes' "Don Quixote" by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party and the Making of America by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book Demobbed: Coming Home After World War Two by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book Advice for Callow Jurists and Gullible Mendicants on Befriending Emirs by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book The New Abolition by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book The Arab Center: The Promise of Moderation by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book Managing the Environment, Managing Ourselves by Terry Eagleton
Cover of the book The Kirov Murder and Soviet History by Terry Eagleton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy