Bücher der Reihe Routledge Critical Thinkers

Without Maurice Blanchot, literary theory as we know it today would have been unthinkable. This guide: works "idea by idea" through Blanchot's writings, anchoring them in historical and intellectual contexts; examines Blanchot's understanding of literature, death, ethics and politics and the relationship between these themes.

The American theorists Henry James, Lionel Trilling and Wayne C Booth have revolutionized our understanding of narrative. This book explores their understanding of the novel form. It investigates their ideas on: realism and representation; authors and narration; point of view and centres of consciousness; readers, and moral intelligence.

Giorgio Agamben is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary continental philosophy and critical theory. This book explains Agamben's key ideas, including: an overview of his work; analysis of Agamben's philosophy of language and life; and, theories of ethics and 'witnessing'.

Questioning not just literary but social, political and cultural assumptions about knowledge and power, Greenblatt's work has had a huge impact on contemporary theory. This work discusses ideas specific to particular works and explores the relation of Greenblatt's thought to new historicism as well as other modes of criticism.

Paul Virilio is a challenging and original thinker whose work on technology, state power and war is becoming increasingly relevant. Exploring Virilio's main texts from their political and historical contexts, the author introduces the key themes in Virlio's work, including: speed; virtualization; war; politics; and, future.

As the founding figure of the movement known as 'existentialism', Jean-Paul Sartre was a key figure in twentieth-century literature and philosophy, whose writings changed the course of critical thought. This book sets Sartre's thought in context, and considers a number of key ideas, charting their impact and continuing influence.

Surveys a 'cluster' of works that seek to explore the cultures of cyberspace, the Internet and the information society. This work introduces ideas, and includes a discussion of the work of two thinkers in this area, Manuel Castells and Donna Haraway. It also includes topics such as: life on the screen; network society; cyborg methods; and more.

With a special focus on Derrida's relevance for literary and cultural studies, this text offers invaluable advice on reading Derrida's texts and guidance on the vast range of criticism responses to his work.

Tracing the developing modernist aesthetic in the thought and writings of James Joyce, Dorothy Richardson and Virginia Woolf, this book considers the cultural, social and personal influences upon the three writers. It explores the connections between their theories, and gives attention to their work on various aspects.

Modernist poetry heralded a radical new aesthetic of experimentation, pioneering new verse forms and subjects. This volume examines three of the most influential figures of the modernist movement, and argues that we cannot dissociate their bold, inventive poetic forms from their profoundly engaged theories of social and political reform.

This guide offers students of literature and culture a refreshingly clear introduction to Butler's crucial ideas, including the formation of identity, subjecthood and gender performativity.

Widely recognised as one of today's most important cultural critics, Adam Roberts offers an engaging introduction to this crucial figure, which will convince any student of contemporary theory that Jameson must be read.

Best known for his theories of ideology and its impact on politics and culture, Louis Althusser revolutionized Marxist theory. Placing Althusser's ideas in the context of earlier Marxist thought, as well as tracing their development and impact, this book presents a guide, useful for those new to the work of this influential critical thinker.

An accessible introduction to one of the key thinkers of our time, focusing on her key theoretical concepts, intellectual context and critical reception.

Covers key elements of Gramsci's thought through detailed discussion, and studies the historical context of the theorist's thought. This work also offers examples of putting Gramsci's ideas into practice in the analysis of contemporary culture, and evaluates responses to his work.

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick is one of the most significant literary theorists and a key figure in contemporary queer theory. This book indicates the impact that Sedgwick's work has on writers, readers, and literary and cultural theory.

Homi K. Bhabha is one of the most highly renowned figures in contemporary post-colonial studies. This introductory guidebook is ideal for all students working in the fields of literary, cultural and postcolonial theory.

Jean Baudrillard is one of the controversial theorists, famous for his claim that the Gulf War never happened and for his provocative writing on terrorism, specifically 9/11. This title examines the impact that Baudrillard has had on literary studies, media and cultural studies, sociology, philosophy and postmodernism.

Focusing on the work of Laura Mulvey, Kaja Silverman, Teresa de Lauretis and Barbara Creed, this book explores how, since it began in the 1970s, feminist film theory has revolutionized the way that films and their spectators can be understood. It is useful for students of film theory and women's studies.

Karl Simms also offers a guide to further reading, which offers advice on Ricoeur's work as well as secondary texts. Refreshingly clear and impressively comprehensive, Paul Ricoeur is the essential guide to an essential theorist.