Offering a refreshing combination of accessibility and intellectual rigor,How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies,Second Edition, presents an up-to-date, concise, and wide-ranging historicist survey of contemporary thinking in critical theory. The only book of its kind that thoroughly merges literary studies with cultural studies, it provides a critical look at the major movements in literary studies since the 1930s, including those often omitted from other texts. It is also the only up-to-date survey of literary theory that devotes full chapters to Queer Theory and Postcolonial and Race Studies. Intellectually challenging yet remarkably readable,How to Interpret Literature,Second Edition, is ideal as either a stand-alone text or in conjunction with an anthology of primary readings. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES * Uses aconversational and engaging tonethat speaks directly to today's students * Covers avariety of theoretical schools--including New Criticism, Structuralism, Deconstruction, Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and Marxism--weaving connections among chapters to show how these different movements respond to and build upon each other * Offers a richassortment of pedagogical features(charts, text boxes that address frequently asked questions, photos, and a bibliography) NEW TO THIS EDITION * Incorporates thelatest developmentsin the field (e.g., continental political philosophy, ecocriticism, and disability studies) * Presents areorganized and expanded final chapter(Chapter 11: Reader Response) * Now includes"How to Interpret" sectionswithin every chapter *Moves suggested readings to the ends of corresponding chaptersto highlight the texts for students * Includes references to morerecent literature and contemporary movies(e.g.,Avatar), diversifying the already broad selection of examples