Bücher von Terry Eagleton

A clear-sighted and entertaining defence of literary realism, and an account of its key practitioners

Culture is a defining aspect of what it means to be human. Defining culture and pinpointing its role in our lives is not, however, so straightforward. Terry Eagleton, one of our foremost literary and cultural critics, is uniquely poised to take on the challenge. In this keenly analytical and acerbically funny book, he explores how culture and our conceptualizations of it have evolved over the last two centuries-from rarified sphere to humble practices, and from a bulwark against industrialism's encroaches to present-day capitalism's most profitable export. Ranging over art and literature as well as philosophy and anthropology, and major but somewhat "e;unfashionable"e; thinkers like Johann Gottfried Herder and Edmund Burke as well as T. S. Eliot, Matthew Arnold, Raymond Williams, and Oscar Wilde, Eagleton provides a cogent overview of culture set firmly in its historical and theoretical contexts, illuminating its collusion with colonialism, nationalism, the decline of religion, and the rise of and rule over the "e;uncultured"e; masses. Eagleton also examines culture today, lambasting the commodification and co-option of a force that, properly understood, is a vital means for us to cultivate and enrich our social lives, and can even provide the impetus to transform civil society.

Often scathingly funny, frequently tender, and always completely engaging, The Gatekeeper is Terry Eagleton's memoirs, his deep-etched portraits of those who influenced him, either by example or by contrast: his father, headmasters, priests, and Cambridge dons. He was a shy, bookish, asthmatic boy keenly aware of social inferiority yet determined to make his intellectual way. The Gatekeeper mixes the soberly serious with the downright hilarious, skewer-sharp satire with unashamed fondness, the personal with the political. Most of it all it reveals a young man learning to reconcile oppositions: a double-edged portrait of the intellectual as a young man.

If you're looking for a field guide to leprechauns, The Truth About the Irish is not the book for you. But if you can handle a frank and funny look into the minds and hearts of Irish people, you've been touched by that fabled Irish luck. Covering all things Irish from Blarney to Yeats, renowned literary and cultural critic Terry Eagleton separates the myths from the reality with his priceless blend of sidesplitting humor, caustic commentary, and the honest lowdown on the beloved and bewildering country of Ireland.

Der bekannte englische Philosoph Terry Eagleton untersucht in seinem neuen Buch den Gedanken und das Ereignis des Opfers, das für ihn Grundlage der modernen wie auch traditioneller Gesellschaftsordnungen darstellt. Während der gegenwärtige Zeitgeist das Opfer als barbarisch und rückständig betrachtet (oder es nur als individualistisches Mittel der Selbstoptimierung kennt), ist es für Eagleton von zentraler Bedeutung für Geschichte und Emanzipation der Menschheit.

In seinem neuesten Werk setzt sich der bekannte britische Autor und Literaturwissenschaftler Terry Eagleton mit dem Verhältnis von Philosophie und Alltagserfahrung auseinander. Er bietet eine humanistische, für das praktische Zusammenleben der Menschen taugliche Variante des Denkens. Angesichts einer Gesellschaft, deren Mitgliedersich weitgehend als "materialistisch" defi nieren und eines von emanzipatorischen Inhalten befreiten "New Materialism"an den Universitäten hält Eagleton an einer "Politik der Materie" fest, die für die Veränderung der Umstände eintritt. In einem Streifzug durch die Ideengeschichte des Materialismus, von Demokrit über Aristoteles bis hin zu Sigmund Freud, verteidigt der Autor die materialistische Gesinnung auch gegen aktuelle Trends der "Cultural Studies" und postmoderner Strömungen.

DER KOMMUNISMUS IST TOT, DER KAPITALISMUS IST KRANK - ES LEBE KARL MARX! Der katholische Marxist Terry Eagleton bricht eine Lanze für Karl Marx. Streit- bar, originell und mit britischem Humor widerlegt er zentrale Argumente gegen den Marxismus, wie 'Wir leben doch längst in einer klassenlosen Gesellschaft' oder 'Der Marxismus beraubt die Menschen ihrer Freiheit'. Eagleton macht klar: Karl Marx ist heute aktueller denn je. 'Unwiderstehlich.' The Scotsman 'Eagleton ist ein begnadeter Polemiker und Stilist.' DIE ZEIT

In his latest book, Terry Eagleton, one of the most celebrated intellects of our time, considers the least regarded of the virtues. His compelling meditation on hope begins with a firm rejection of the role of optimism in life's course. Like its close relative, pessimism, it is more a system of rationalization than a reliable lens on reality, reflecting the cast of one's temperament in place of true discernment. Eagleton turns then to hope, probing the meaning of this familiar but elusive word: Is it an emotion? How does it differ from desire? Does it fetishize the future? Finally, Eagleton broaches a new concept of tragic hope, in which this old virtue represents a strength that remains even after devastating loss has been confronted.In a wide-ranging discussion that encompasses Shakespeare's Lear, Kierkegaard on despair, Aquinas, Wittgenstein, St. Augustine, Kant, Walter Benjamin's theory of history, and a long consideration of the prominent philosopher of hope, Ernst Bloch, Eagleton displays his masterful and highly creative fluency in literature, philosophy, theology, and political theory. Hope without Optimism is full of the customary wit and lucidity of this writer whose reputation rests not only on his pathbreaking ideas but on his ability to engage the reader in the urgent issues of life. Page-Barbour Lectures

What makes a work of literature good or bad? How freely can the reader interpret it? Could a nursery rhyme like Baa Baa Black Sheep be full of concealed loathing, resentment, and aggression? In this accessible, delightfully entertaining book, Terry Eagleton addresses these intriguing questions and a host of others. How to Read Literature is the book of choice for students new to the study of literature and for all other readers interested in deepening their understanding and enriching their reading experience.In a series of brilliant analyses, Eagleton shows how to read with due attention to tone, rhythm, texture, syntax, allusion, ambiguity, and other formal aspects of literary works. He also examines broader questions of character, plot, narrative, the creative imagination, the meaning of fictionality, and the tension between what works of literature say and what they show. Unfailingly authoritative and cheerfully opinionated, the author provides useful commentaries on classicism, Romanticism, modernism, and postmodernism along with spellbinding insights into a huge range of authors, from Shakespeare and J. K. Rowling to Jane Austen and Samuel Beckett.

Without doubt the most important work on literary criticism that has emerged out of the tradition of Marxist philosophy and social theory since the 19th century.