This helpful guide serves as an introduction to contemporary literary theory.

Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory: The Johns Hopkins Guide is a clear, accessible, and detailed overview of the most important thinkers and topics in the field. Written by specialists from across disciplines, its entries cover contemporary theory from Adorno to Žižek, providing an informative and reliable introduction to a vast, challenging area of inquiry. Materials include newly commissioned articles along with essays drawn from The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism, known as the definitive resource for students and scholars of literary theory and for philosophical reflection on literature and culture.

Michael Groden is a professor of English at the University of Western Ontario.

Michael Groden's profile page

Martin Kreiswirth is dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, professor of English, and founding director of the Centre for the Study of Theory and Criticism at the University of Western Ontario.

Martin Kreiswirth's profile page

Imre Szeman holds the Canada Research Chair in Cultural Studies at the University of Alberta and is the cofounder of the Petrocultures Research Group. He is the coauthor of After Oil and the coeditor of The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism.

Imre Szeman's profile page

"Groden, Kreiswirth, and Szeman have compiled a desktop, ready-reference tool that is readable, informative, and complete according to the parameters that they established for the work."

Reference Reviews

"The very thoroughness and high quality of each entry, as well as attentive editing, are what makes The Johns Hopkins Guide to Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory an essential tool for anyone looking for an at once in-depth and accessible study of some of the major concepts of literary thory today."

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