Preface x
1. Introduction: The Prehistory and Rise of "Theory" 1
2. Introduction Continued: Theory and Functionalization 12
First Reflections On Interpretation And Reading
3. Ways In and Out of the Hermeneutic Circle 27
4. Configurative Reading 39
Text And Structure
5. The Idea of the Autonomous Artwork 55
6. The New Criticism and Other Western Formalisms 68
7. Russian Formalism 82
8. Semiotics and Structuralism 95
9. Linguistics and Literature 108
10. Deconstruction I: Jacques Derridap123
11. Deconstruction II: Paul de Man 137
Author (Reader) And Psyche
12. Freud and Fiction 153
13. Jacques Lacan in Theory 166
14. Influence 179
15. The Postmodern Psyche 192
The Social Context
16. The Social Permeability of Reader and Text 207
17. The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory 220
18. The Political Unconscious 233
19. The New Historicism 246
20. The Classical Feminist Tradition 259
21. African American Criticism 272
22. Postcolonial Criticism 285
23. Queer Theory and Gender Performativity 299
24. The Institutional Construction of Literary Study 312
Theory Con And Pro
25. The End of Theory? Neo-Pragmaism 329
26. Conclusion: Who Doesn't Hate Now? 342
Appendix: Passages Referenced in lectures 355
Notes 363
The Varieties of Interpretation: A Guide to Further Reading in Literary Theory
by Stefan Esposito 365
Index 379