Rehabilitating Literary Theory

Abstract

The present work seeks to bring literary theory in line with the most recent practical turn the humanities are witnessing. When simplified, succinctly presented, and skillfully used in multi-coded interpretation within a semiocritical framework, literary theories become practical exercises in criticism, not only facilitating the interpretation of literature, but also making it more enjoyable and more rewarding.

This book is different from its counterparts in the sense that it includes an exceptionally expanded model of the practice of literary theories, and replaces long and theoretical discussions with brief synopses of the examined theories. It relies on less-overused texts for illustration as it compiles and organizes the terms and phrases that are often used by the proponents of the discussed theories. The most influential literary theories that have so far been developed in academia are included: the New Criticism, reader-response criticism, structuralism, deconstruction, feminism, Marxism, psychoanalytic criticism, linguistic criticism, cultural materialism, new historicism, postcolonialism, and semiotics.

Through eliminating the excesses made in the name of theory, this book will restore the faith of students, teachers, and practitioners in the useful and enduring nature of literary theory for the analysis and appreciation of literature.

About the Author

Dr. Khaled Besbes is an assistant professor of English language and literature at the University of Sharjah, the UAE. He previously taught at the IAS College of Dubai, the Faculty of Letters and Humanities of Sousse, the Faculty of Letters and Humanities of Mannouba and the IBLV in Tunisia. He has published many books and articles in the fields of semiotics and literary criticism and is currently working to further develop the theory of semiocriticism he introduces in Rehabilitating Literary Theory.