An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory

Starting at ‘the beginning’ and concluding with ‘the end’, the book covers topics that range from the familiar (‘character’, ‘narrative’, ‘the author’) to the more unusual (‘secrets’, ‘pleasure’, ‘ghosts’). This new edition incorporates five new chapters on ‘love’, ‘wounds’, ‘bodies’, ‘the affect effect’ and a ‘digital supplement’. Instead of relying on abstract ‘isms’, Bennett and Royle successfully illuminate complex ideas by engaging directly with literary works, so that a reading ofJane Eyre opens up ways of thinking about racial difference, whilst Chaucer, Raymond Chandler and Monty Python are all invoked in a discussion of literature and laughter.

Each chapter ends with a guide to further reading and the book also includes a glossary and bibliography. A companion website features downloadable chapters on writing and reading as well as an engaging ‘digital supplement’.

A breath of fresh air in a field that can often seem dry and dauntingly theoretical, this book will open the reader’s eyes to the exhilarating possibilities of both reading and studying literature and theory.

Andrew Bennett is Professor of English at the University of Bristol. He publishes on Romantic Literature as well as literary theory. His books includeThe Author (2005), William Wordsworth in Context (2015), Ignorance: Literature and Agnoiology (2009).

Nicholas Royle is Professor of English at the University of Sussex. He has published widely across literature and theory, and is also the author of a novel,Quilt. Previous books include Jacques Derrida (2003), How to Read Shakespeare (2005),Veering: A Theory of Literature (2011) and the recently published This Thing Called Literature (2015).