Semiotics & Theory

Walter Benjamin was one of the most original and important critical voices of the twentieth century, but until now only a few of his writings have been available in English. Harvard University Press has now undertaken to publish a significant portion of...

We live in a world where nothing is untouched by supply chains—art included. In this major contribution to the study of contemporary culture and supply chains, Michael Shane Boyle has assembled a global inventory of aesthetics since the 1950s that...

Frank Kermode is one of our most distinguished and beloved critics of English literature. Here, he contributes a new epilogue to his collection of classic lectures on the relationship of fiction to age-old concepts of apocalyptic chaos and crisis...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781590172834Author Lionel TrillingFormat PaperbackPage Count 320Imprint NYRB ClassicsPublisher The New York Review of Books, IncWeight(grams)...

What is the difference between literal and figurative writing? Is there really a secret set of tricks used by top authors to make their writing even better? Why not use these tricks all the time? This excellent little book, by English literature and...

This volume focuses on the relational aspect of Jean-Luc Nancy's thinking. As Nancy himself showed, thinking might be a solitary activity but it is never singular in its dimension. Building on or breaking away from other thoughts, especially those by...

'Facts alone are wanted in life,' exclaims Mr Gradgrind at the beginning of Dickens' Hard Times. Literature is not about facts alone, and - despite two and a half thousand years of arguments - no one can agree on what it is, or how to study it. But,...

This book extends the theme of Raymond Williams's earlier work in literary and cultural analysis. He analyses previous contributions to a Marxist theory of literature from Marx himself to Lukacs, Althusser, and Goldmann, and develops his own approach by...

In Search of Authority is the most engaging introduction to literary theory available today.This is the third edition of a book that has been widely used to introduce undergraduates to the field of literary theory. Its distinctive quality is the way in...

In his most important work, Max Horkheimer surveys and demonstrates the gradual ascendancy of Reason in Western philosophy, its eventual total application to all spheres of life, and what he considers its present reified domination. First published in...

What makes a character interesting? How do you build a convincing character arc? Does every story have a hero? How many shades of villain are there? How does a writer bring their characters alive? In this timeless little book, teacher Amy Jones...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780944344064Author John Dominic CrossanFormat PaperbackPage Count 114Imprint Polebridge PressPublisher Polebridge Press

A work of technical skill as well as outstanding literary merit, Structuralist Poetics was awarded the 1975 James Russell Lowell Prize of the Modern Language Association. It was during the writing of this book that Culler developed his now famous and...

In an essay of prophetic vision, Lukacs defines a critical realism: 'anyone who wants to become more intimately acquainted with the prehistory of the important ideologies of the [nineteen-] twenties and thirties ...will be helped by a critical reading of...

A Theory of Adaptation explores the continuous development of creative adaptation, and argues that the practice of adapting is central to the story-telling imagination. Linda Hutcheon develops a theory of adaptation through a range of media, from film...

This acclaimed short study, originally published in 1983, and now thoroughly updated, elucidates the varied theoretical contributions of Roland Barthes (1915-80), the 'incomparable enlivener of the literary mind' whose lifelong fascination was with the...

A book which should appeal to both literary theorists and to readers of the novel, this study invites the reader to consider how the plot reflects the patterns of human destiny and seeks to impose a new meaning on life.About the AuthorPeter Brooks is...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780375725395Author Camille PagliaFormat PaperbackPage Count 304Imprint Vintage BooksPublisher Random House USA IncWeight(grams) 249gDimensions(mm) 202mm *...

Not exercising as much as you should? Counting your calories in your sleep? Feeling ashamed for not being happier? You may be a victim of the wellness syndrome. In this ground-breaking new book, Carl Cederstroem and Andre Spicer argue that the...

Since the publication of Gender Trouble in 1990, Judith Butler has revolutionised our understanding of identities and the ways in which they are constructed. This volume examines her critical thought through key texts, touching upon such issues as:* The...

Accessing the huge selection of critical theory can be an intimidating experience. This acclaimed dictionary is an invaluable introduction to the theories and theorists in the field and will prove an authoritative resource for all students.About the...

In this new book, crucial for understanding her journey, Luce Irigaray goes further than in Speculum and questions the work of the Pre-Socratics at the root of our culture. Reminding us of the story of Ulysses and Antigone, she demonstrates how, from the...

The 1870s in France - Rimbaud's moment, and the subject of this book - is a decade virtually ignored in most standard histories in France. Yet it was the moment of two significant spatial events: France's expansion on a global scale, and, in the spring...

'In our era, criticism is not merely a library of secondary aids to the understanding and appreciation of literary texts, but also a rapidly expanding body of knowledge in its own right.' David LodgeThis anthology uses extracts from the works of the...

"Eco wittily and enchantingly develops themes often touched on in his previous works, but he delves deeper into their complex nature...this collection can be read with pleasure by those unversed in semiotic theory." -Times Literary SupplementReviews"Eco...

Humans may live in the Anthropocene, but this does not affect all in the same way. How would the Anthropocene look if, instead of searching its traces in the geosphere, researchers would look for them in the organosphere, in the ecologies of humans in...

In the newly revised version of The Sourcebook of Magic you will discover afresh the basic 77 NLP patterns for transformational magic. What's new? A change from merely describing the patterns to presenting the key questions that allow you to guide a...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780486295770Author Aristotle AristotleFormat PaperbackPage Count 64Imprint Dover Publications Inc.Publisher Dover Publications Inc.Weight(grams)...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780156027762Author Vladimir NabokovFormat PaperbackPage Count 352Imprint Houghton MifflinPublisher Houghton MifflinWeight(grams) 286gDimensions(mm) 204mm *...

Acclaimed author of On Kissing, Tickling and Being Bored and On KindnessA collection of literary essays like no other - exploring the deep connections between literature and psychoanalysis - from Britain's leading psychoanalyst.For Adam Phillips - as for...

How do bi+ people navigate identity, gender, and relationships in a biphobic society? This book explores this question to show how to better include and incorporate bi+ people in research, policy, and the everyday.You can expect this book to explore how...

Attending to the mid-Victorian boys' adventure novel and its connections with missionary culture, Michelle Elleray investigates how empire was conveyed to Victorian children in popular forms, with a focus on the South Pacific as a key location of...

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. The ocean comprises the largest object on our planet. Retelling human history from an oceanic rather than terrestrial point of view unsettles...

"Ten times, an elderly grey-haired man gets up on the stage. Ten times puffing and sighing. Ten times slowly tracing out strange multi-coloured arabesques that interweave, curling with the meanders of his speech, by turns fluid and uneasy. A whole crowd...

What is poststructuralist theory, and what difference does it make to literary criticism? Where do we find the meaning of the text: in the author's head? in the reader's? Or do we, instead, make meaning in the practice of reading itself? If so, what part...

Why do we read literature and how do we judge it? C. S. Lewis's classic An Experiment in Criticism springs from the conviction that literature exists for the joy of the reader and that books should be judged by the kind of reading they invite. He argues...

What is the best way to tell a story? In first-person peripheral, or third-person focalised? Unfolding in the present, or as events in the past? Where is the camera? What is the lens? Where is the action? In this concise little book, educator Amy Jones...

A vivid account of the literary culture of the Spanish-speaking Americas from the time of Columbus to Latin American Independence, this Very Short Introduction explores the origins of Latin American literature in Spanish and tells the story of how...

After six novels, five story collections and two books of non-fiction, and countless international prizes, A.L. Kennedy certainly has the authority to talk about the craft of writing books - it's just a wonder she's found the time. These are missives...

Incessantly cited by critics, Bakhtin's work nonetheless remains relatively unavailable: partly through lack of suitable editions, partly because no individual text conveys all the key concepts or arguments. This anthology provides in a convenient format...