Literary Theory: A Practical Introduction

Michael Ryan's Literary Theory: A Practical Introduction, Second Edition introduces students to the full range of contemporary approaches to the study of literature and culture, from Formalism, Structuralism, and Historicism to Ethnic Studies, Gender Studies, and Global English.

• Introduces readings from a variety of theoretical perspectives, on classic literary texts.
• Demonstrates how the varying perspectives on texts can lead to different interpretations of the same work.
• Contains an accessible account of different theoretical approaches
• An ideal resource for use in introductory courses on literary theory and criticism.
• Designed to function both as a stand-alone text and a companion to Rivkin and Ryan’s Literary Theory: An Anthology, Second Edition.

Michael Ryan's comprehensive textbook on the practice of literary theory demonstrates how the full panoply of theoretical approaches can be used to read the same texts.

Michael Ryan is Professor of English at Northeastern University, where he teaches courses in American Literature and Culture, American Film, and Literary Theory. As well as Literary Theory: An Anthology, his books include Marxism and Deconstruction, Camera Politica: The Politics and Ideology of Contemporary American Film (with Douglas Kellner), and Politics and Culture: Working Hypotheses for a Post-Revolutionary Society.