Introducing Criticism in the 21st Century

This book provides a wide ranging guide to current directions in literary criticism. This new and revised edition provides 14 chapters introducing new modes of 'hybrid' criticism which have emerged in the 21st century. The chapters provide thought provoking overviews of critical thinking at the cutting edge. Each of the authors explains in lucid terms the various contours of their discourses while bringing these into sharp relief for the student reader through readings of canonical novels, poems, plays, films and websites. The book is organised into five areas of critical concern - The Poetics and Politics of Identity; Critical Voices: Ethical Questions; Materialities, Immaterialities, (A) materialities, Realities; Space, Place & Memory. These orientations reflect the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of critical and cultural studies, as do the themes covered within the volume: Diaspora Criticism, Gender and Transgender Criticism, Women of Color and Feminist Criticism, Chaos Theory, Complexity Theory and Criticism, Ethical Criticism, Trauma and Testimonial Criticism, Ecocriticism, Spatial Criticism, Cybercriticism, Deleuzean Criticism, Levinas and Criticism, Spectral Criticism and (A)material Criticism. It addresses the various 'states of criticism' at the beginning of the century. Each chapter explores and explains aspects of the theory it addresses, provides a brief 3-4 page reading of a literary text, film text or website and concludes with questions for further consideration, an annotated bibliography and a supplementary bibliography. The critical readings provide a teaching and study resource and demonstrate the scope of theoretical applications.