#20 in Literary criticism books
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Reddit mentions of Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory

Sentiment score: 7
Reddit mentions: 12

We found 12 Reddit mentions of Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. Here are the top ones.

Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory
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Manchester University Press
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Height7.6 Inches
Length5.1 Inches
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Release dateMay 2009
Weight0.75 Pounds
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Found 12 comments on Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory:

u/exit---ghost · 8 pointsr/AskLiteraryStudies

I use a text called Beginning Theory when I teach into to literary theory. That'll give you a pretty basic overview of the more modern stuff, plus point you in the direction of other texts.

A theory and criticism textbook like another commenter mentioned is a good idea too, though it might be a little overwhelming at first. A solid-ish, basic understanding of Western philosophy is generally, because it underpins literary criticism and theory. What we think of as "literary criticism" proper didn't even really fully emerge until the 19th century, so philosophical or hermeneutic approaches to texts are sort of the only game in town for much of history.

Another thing you can check it out are craft essays, which are written by writers about writing. Some of these will be classics, Wordsworth's Preface to the Lyrical Ballads, for instance. Some will be quite modern. And in between.

Also, if you're reading things in canon, you can always find critical work on whatever you're reading. It might be a bit tough to wade through at first, but you can usually figure out what the big stuff is. And as always, just ask!

u/EddieVisaProphet · 4 pointsr/CriticalTheory

If you want really excellent intro books then I definitely recommend Lois Tyson's Critical Theory Today. This has all the really important schools that are important right now, except eco-criticism, which is kind of a bummer. But I think the latter edition hits a little bit on it under postcolonial theory. This is a good intro text that has overview of what's going on.

Norton Anthology of Critical Theory was mentioned, and while this is an excellent anthology, it's huge and can be a bit complicated to read the actual source material without knowing about it before hand, but it's pretty nice being able to read the actual texts of different theorists. Similar to this is Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan's Literary Theory: An Anthology. While Norton's goes chronologically all the way back to Plato, Rivkin's text groups all the texts under the major schools so you get a comprehensive view of each one. It's worth mentioning though that Norton does have a secondary Table of Contents where they group the readings under school as well.

You mentioned wanting to know postmodernism, and that's another thing that Tyson's text doesn't include, as it's more of a movement instead of a criticism. An intro text similar to Tyson's that does include eco-criticism and postmodernism though is Peter Barry's Beginning Theory.

If you have very little knowledge of theory and criticism, I'd really recommend picking up Tyson's book and reading that so you get an overview of the text before moving on to an anthology. Like I said, the texts can be incredibly dense and difficult to read, and if you've never been exposed to them before it'll just make it even more difficult. Tyson's text also has suggested readings under each school as well to expand what you're reading.

u/Malo-Geneva · 4 pointsr/AskLiteraryStudies

It's hard to suggest a single text, but there are many histories of the different strands of literary criticism available. There are some written by practicing specialists, and others by historians of literature. There is a multi volume work published by Cambridge UP that deals with the history of lit-crit that is very valuable, but not easily accessible, or very concise.

My suggestion would be to break down your time-frame to maybe 50 year chunks and read some of the seminal works on the major movements in lit crit during those times. This is one that's used a lot in Universities, though I must admit it wouldn't be one of my favourites (though I can absolutely support it as an introductory work). http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beginning-theory-third-introduction-Beginnings/dp/0719079276/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1410136722&sr=8-8&keywords=literary+criticism

Otherwise, there's the text based approach--where you read different texts from the history of lit crit, using an anthology. The uber-bible of this sort is the http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Norton-Anthology-Theory-Criticism/dp/0393932923/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1410136722&sr=8-4&keywords=literary+criticism. There are smaller, more specific (and probably overall more helpful in a non-reference way) ones too, like this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Criticism-Theory-A-Reader/dp/0582784549/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1410136722&sr=8-11&keywords=literary+criticism.

Hope that might be of some help.
M_G

u/nakamurasan · 3 pointsr/IAmA

Is the teaching of college English a joke? This is not a personal affront to your profession but more of a query about the people that belong in these classes. If one achieved stellar grades in high school English, I don't see why these courses are still required in college. If you're an English major, fine, but leave the rest of us out of it. One's writing ability depends largely on their will to hone the craft in their free time as well as read. I don't think a few courses will do anything for the individual besides annoy them.

I picked up this book on a whim:
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Theory-Introduction-Literary-Beginnings/dp/0719079276/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280199852&sr=8-3

Never again did I have a problem with English classes. I find it neurotic that I was using questionable literary theory to analyze the fictional musings of someone that other lovers of musings thought that this particular musing had enough merit to warrant the application of questionable literary theory largely divorced from reality that was created specifically to analyze the fictioAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Goddamn it. Should've stuck to questions about sex.

u/Uncle_Erik · 3 pointsr/TrueFilm

I highly recommend Peter Barry's Beginning Theory. It is about literature but also applies to a film's writing.

u/mrkeked · 2 pointsr/AskLiteraryStudies

Generally speaking, Beginning Theory is a nifty wikipedia-esque sort of book that helps in organizing your mind regarding what goes where.

u/[deleted] · 2 pointsr/AskLiteraryStudies

If you're into textbooks, this book gets mentioned all the time in this sub and /r/literature and I bought it and found it incredibly helpful as an introduction to the field. It will drastically increase your understanding of theory and allows you to be active in the process. But of course, it's just a book and a classroom would do that x1000 but definitely start here.

u/belikethefox · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

Beginning Theory: Introduction to Literary Culture and Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction were two helpful supplemental texts from a literary criticism class I took in graduate school.


This is more theory of literature, though, and wouldn't speak to style necessarily, but would give you some idea of the lenses that many folks out there use to look at literature.

I also recommend reading around /r/AskLiteraryStudies for some ideas, too.

u/Carai_an_Caldazar · 2 pointsr/literature

I'll give you a few suggestions based on what I've read.

A good introductory book that covers many different literary theories is Peter Barry's Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory (http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Theory-Introduction-Literary-Cultural/dp/0719079276/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452013996&sr=8-1&keywords=beginning+theory). His chapters on Cultural Studies and New Historicism, as well as the other chapters, are very accessible.

Robert Dale Parker's How To Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies (http://www.amazon.com/How-Interpret-Literature-Critical-Literary/dp/0199331162/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1452014126&sr=8-8&keywords=cultural+studies) focuses on major literary movements since the 1930s, and it is one of the more accessible books about the newer forms of literary theory.

Catherine Gallagher's Practicing New Historicism (http://www.amazon.com/Practicing-New-Historicism-Catherine-Gallagher/dp/0226279359/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452014436&sr=8-1&keywords=new+historicism) is an excellent and easy-to-follow-without-being-condescending introduction to this area of literary theory.

u/MauritiusM · 2 pointsr/writing

Writing dilemma overtakes every writer. The desire to achieve perfection makes us blind to feel the reality. In such days I prefer to make my head free of disruptive thoughts: running, mediation, walk in the forest. Then, I read. Read in the morning and in the evening to find inspiration the works of literary criticism. My favourite is Beginnin Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory written by Peter Barry who is sharing a window to the ideas and principles of literary theory. You will wind your way. Do not re-read your own books and do not try to find something similar to your topic. It can confuse you. Also, avoid plagiarism and do not imitate someone else's style or idea: writing manipulations corrupt good manners.

u/porwegiannussy · 1 pointr/AskLiteraryStudies

Best guide I've ever read

You can get a used copy for like around 50.

Second best