Textbooks

5 Responses to “Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, Third Edition”

1. ericross says:

   February 28, 2010 at 1:02 am

   Literary theory tends to have a strange effect on writers. Look at the the title of this book:

   “Beginning Theory”

   Notice that it isn’t “Beginning Literary Theory” or “Beginning Cultural Theory”.

   Can you imagine a subject where the academics involved are so conceited that they believe that their theory is so self-evidently more valuable than any other, that henceforth it ‘need not speak its name’ and is to be known as ‘theory’.

   This odd effect also licenses the writers of ‘theory’ to write in a manner which erects formidable defences against any reader who is unprepared to surrender gracefully in the face of overwhelming unintelligibility.

   This book simply fails to deliver on the unintelligibility front, its simple helpful style leading the reader to the unmistakeable conclusion that the rest of the books on this subject are written equally accessibly.

   They are not.

   If this book were written by a true literary theory devotee, it would have been shortened further still, to “Beginning”.

   Pretentious?

   All the more reason to buy this book, it cuts through the usual mystification like a scythe, leaving even the likes of Derrida in a more explicable state.

   Up until I read this book, I believed that literary theorists (sorry for leaving the word ‘literary’ in) were utterly incapable of stringing together a sentence without it drifting off into something whose meaning was far too precious to be contaminated by such banal things as understanding.

   A real nightmare awaits many who are inspired by this book, because they will find almost every other book on the subject not only harder to read, but much less fun.
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. Igor Dimeaux says:

   February 28, 2010 at 2:01 am

   I purchased the book to prepare myself for a degree in cultural and literary studies. The book is excellent as a beginners book. The only problem is that it is too small for the range it covers. The informations are short and almost encyclopedic. The author usually connects only one person with a (cultural) period or an idea (for example Barthes with Post-structuralism or Derrida with Postmodernism). However, as I said, there is no better book for beginners.
   
   There are parts in the book (towards the end of every chapter) that help you to understand better the ideas presented (these are called STOP and THINK, where the author of the book helps you to apply the knowledge you gained from reading about a certain theory). Also, there are, at the end of every chapter, suggested books for “further reading” with short explanations pointing (in a nutshell) the quality and shortcomings (biases etc) of each book.
   
   At the end, I can just conclude that this book is worth buying only as a beginning point (probably that’s why there is BEGINNINGS in the name of the book). If you already know something, and still look for a book to help you understand theory, get separate books for every kind of theory (e.g. get a book on post-structuralism, book on postmodernism etc.)
   
   PS. The book itself was poorly made. It already started falling apart and I have it less than a month.
   Rating: 4 / 5
3. Goku's Girl says:

   February 28, 2010 at 2:45 am

   This book was a supplemental text for my Graduate level Critical Theory class, and I thank my prof for that every time I open it up. Barry’s writing is incredibly accessible — even inviting, and,at times, humorous. He breaks down most of the major theorists’ important and influential works into their key points (which are often buried under obtuse and circular language in the works themselves) and (briefly) applies them to well-known pieces of literature to show how theory is “done”. Even for those of us who are “into” theory, writers like Derrida, Spivak, and Lacan can be intimidating; Barry helps the reader get beyond that and deep into the core of critical theory. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to broaden their understanding of literary theory, and I definitely recommend it new students who find themselves overwhelmed or intimidated by theory.
   Rating: 5 / 5
4. Charles S. Houser says:

   February 28, 2010 at 2:49 am

   Peter Barry’s BEGINNING THEORY introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory is lucid, engaging, and challenging, and would make an ideal classroom text; but it’s also a good one for those individuals like me who have been out of school for some time and are a little curious about how the reading and study of literature has changed over the past few decades. The book’s thirteen chapters cover traditional criticism (liberal humanism); structuralism; post-structuralism and deconstruction; postmodernism; psychoanalytic criticism; feminist criticism; lesbian/gay criticism; Marxist criticism; new historicism and cultural materialism; postcolonial criticism; stylistics; narratology; and ecocriticism (the latter being the new kid on the block and usually not included in comparable Theory Introductions). Barry may not be the last word on all these subjects, but I felt he’s a good starting point for just about anyone. He advocates reading carefully a few of the most pivotal texts on the subjects covered (rather than reading as broadly as possible); he succinctly summarizes each theory’s tenets and practices in easy-to-absorb lists; he encourages readers to apply the theories in some way in “Stop and Think” exercises; and he provides annotated select reading lists for each chapter. This is a book I expect I’ll be returning to time and again as I try to read some of the primary texts Barry recommends.
   Rating: 5 / 5
5. Martin Asiner says:

   February 28, 2010 at 4:59 am

   Whenever a college student takes that required first course in critical theory, that student ought to realize that this course is admittedly dense in both content and style, and as a consequence should have access to supplemental readings. Peter Barry with his BEGINNING THEORY is one of three such useful texts. Lois Tyson and Charles Bressler are the other two noteworthy introductory tomes. What is helpful in Barry is his initial chapter on “Theory before `theory’–liberal humanism.” Most other critical texts scant the reader on the state of criticism as it existed before Jacques Derrida took the podium in 1966 and shook up the academic world by suggesting that the neat and tidy world of the liberal humanists was founded on a heavy-handed patriarchy that took for granted a spectrum of Western-based assumptions that had stood unchallenged since Plato. These liberal humanists have been on the run since then and Barry succinctly summarizes and analyzes who the major players were in this seismic eruption.

   Barry structures his analyses of each school with a general historical overview of that school’s paradigmatic assumptions. He includes what critics of that school generally think about as they ponder how to relate the intricacies of that school to specified literary texts. This listing is more useful than the uninitiated might think since when it comes time for the novice critic to make that transcendental leap from the abstruseness that is theory to the concrete reality that is text that neophyte must understand a plethora of assumptions that all too often get lost in the French translation but are clarified in Barry’s capable hands. One example will do. Jacques Lacan is notorious for being dense and just plain hard to understand, but when Barry connects the denseness that is Lacan to the clarity that is Poe in his “The Purloined Letter,” the various stages of self that seem muddled in the former now stand etched in clear relief by the latter.

   One minor note: Barry closes his text with considerations of Stylistics, Narratology, and Ecocriticism, none of which have yet hit the mainstream as accepted modes of literary discourse. Still, for the eager undergraduate or the uneasy graduate student, Barry belongs on the same shelf that also houses Lois Tyson and Charles Bressler.
   
   Rating: 5 / 5