Theory, (Post)Modernity, Opposition: An Other Introduction To Literary and Cultural Theory

A provocative interrogation of contemporary theory which demonstrates how arguments "against theory" of humanist critics (Ellis, Steiner, Abrams), of "anti-theory" theorists (Fish, Rorty, Knapp, Michaels), and of the poststructuralist "resistance to theory" (de Man, Derrida, Foucault, Lyotard) serve to de-politicize literary debate. To recover the transformative potential of theory, the authors call for a postmodernism based on resistance and an opening of spaces for oppositional practice and critical cultural studies.