Cultural Criticism, Literary Theory, Poststructuralism

216 Pages·1993·7.461 MB·English

by  Vincent B. Leitch

The advent of “cultural studies” in
recent years signals the emergence of
a new academic enterprise. In
Cultural Criticism, Literary Theory,
Poststructuralism, Vincent Leitch,
the author of the acclaimed
Deconstructive Criticism and
American Literary Criticism from
the Thirties to the Eighties, employs
poststructuralist perspectives to de¬
velop what has come to be
recognized as a “new” cultural
criticism.
Among recent cultural theories,
poststructuralism, with its emphasis
on differences, margins, and
hybridizations, has proved to be one
of the most contested and the most
controversial. In a series of persua¬
sive arguments, Leitch asserts post-
structuralisms usefulness vis-a-vis
reigning modes of critical inquiry,
and illustrates the limitations and
shortcomings of contending theories
and methods.
, Over the course of eight chapters,
Leitch addresses key topics facing
scholars of literature: social forma¬
tion and cultural critique; author¬
ship and intention; “poetic”
discourse and the social text; literary
genre and cultural convention;
minority literatures and “general po¬
etics”; textual interpretation and
assessment; institutional theory and
analysis; and Birmingham cultural
studies and poststructuralism.
(continued on back flap)

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in 2019 with funding from
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Cultural Criticism,
Literary Theory
Poststructuralism

Cultural Criticism,
Literary Theory
Poststructuralism
Vincent B, Leitch
Columbia University Press
New York
Columbia University Press
New York Oxford
Copyright © 1992 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress CIP Data
Leitch, Vincent B.
Cultural criticism, literary theory,
poststructuralism / Vincent B. Leitch.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-231-07970-2 (alk. paper)
1. Criticism—History—20th century.
2. Poststructuralism (Literary analysis)
I. Title.
PN94.L39 1992
801'. 95 '0904—dc20 92-19447
CIP
®
Casebound editions of Columbia University Press books
are Smyth-sewn and printed on permanent and durable
acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 987654321
CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgments
I. Analyzing Regimes j
Regimes of Reason 2
Poststructuralist Cultural Critique 8
Ethicopolitical Parameters 10
2. (De)Authorizmg Literary Discourse
19
Public and Private Authors 19
Author Functions 26
“Historical” Authors
31
Epical/Epochal Scriptors 36
3. Styling ("Poetic") Language, Rhetoric, Discourse 39
“Poetic” Language and Literariness 40
Rhetoric and Rhetoricity 43
The Body, the Unconscious, and the Social Order 50
Heteroglot Discourse and Poetry 55
Aberrant Subjects 59
4. (De)Coding (Generic) Discourse 62
Forms, Conventions, Institutions 63
V
Contents
Problems of Genealogies and Taxonomies 66
Amalgamations and Anomalies 72
“Pragmatics” of Genre 74
Questions of Gender 78
Transformations of Genre Studies 80
5. Pluralizing Poetics 83
Black Aesthetics in America 84
Women’s Literatures 90
Minoritarian Poetics 92
Postcolonial Theory 94
The “Minor” and the “Marginal” 99
Pluralizing Poetics and Beyond 102
6. "Reading" Texts
104
Disorders of Reading 105
The Matter of Evaluation 1 I 1
Problems with Reader-Response Theories 1 12
Two Modes of Misreading 117
Reading as Allegorical Rewriting 121
Critical Reading Close Reading 124
7. Figuring (in) Institutions 126
Theory of Institutions 127
Apparatuses of Knowledge/ Power 129
The Institution of English Studies 136
Institutional Analysis and Cultural Critique 143