Literary Studies in Action: (Interface)

Literary Studies in Action is a new kind of textbook: a combination of workbook and handbook. Instead of just outlining the discipline of literary studies, Literary Studies in Action helps the student to answer questions about its history and current practice: about what to do and how to do it, and why literature has been and can be studied. In doing so, it attempts to develop an informed view of where the object of our study in literary studies' fits into larger patterns of knowledge and thought. The numerous examples chosen for analysis range over the last thousand years of writing in English throughout the world, and include a variety of different kinds of texts. Literary Studies in Action also contains over a hundred practical activities for the student, to develop practical analytical skills and structure theoretical work. This is a textbook for the times, which addresses itself brilliantly to the twin phenomena of expanding horizons and diminishing resources of English studies.' - David Lodge

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Chapter 1 1 What are you letting yourself in for when you study ‘literature in English’?; Chapter 2 2 How has the study of literature tended to see itself?; Chapter 3 3 The ‘objects’ of your study: ‘texts’; Chapter 4 4 How do you find things out?; Chapter 5 5 Sorting texts out; Chapter 6 6 Language in texts; Chapter 7 7 Interpreting; Chapter 8 8 Developing theories; Chapter 9 9 From your study into the world; Answers to selected activities; References and Further Reading; Bibliography; Index;

Review :
'Literary Studies in Action is a 'Student's Guide to English Studies' of a totally new kind. It exposes students to theories, ideas, classifications, terminologies, , but encourages them to question and explore - rather than to accept the paraphernalia of poetics, criticism and theory on trust ... The student will find this a valuable and unique guide.' - Professor Geoffrey Leech, Lancaster University `This book will be welcomed by anyone who thinks that the study of literature has genuine intellectual content, and that students can be trained to discover and solve interesting problems in the study of literary works for themselves.' - Morris Halle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology `Extremely impressive - interesting, original, well done, with many challenging and engaging examples.' - Professor Mary Louise Pratt, Stanford University `This is a text book for the times, which addresses itself brilliantly to the twin phenomena of expanding horizons and diminishing resources of English studies.' - David Lodge `Literary Studies in Action is a `Student's Guide to English Studies' of a totally new kind. It exposes students to theories, ideas, classifications, terminologies, but encourages them to question and explore - rather than to accept the paraphernalia of poetics, criticism and theory on trust ... the student will find this a valuable and unique guide.' - Geoffrey Leech, Lancaster University `Extremely impressive - interesting, original, well done, with many challenging and engaging examples.' - Mary Louise Pratt, Stanford University