How does literature work? And what does it mean? How does it relate to the world: to politics, to history, to the environment? How do we analyse and interpret a literary text, paying attention to its specific poetic and fictitious qualities? This wide-ranging introduction helps students to explore these and many other essential questions in the study of literature, criticism and theory. In a series of introductory chapters, leading international scholars present the fundamental topics of literary studies through conceptual definitions as well as interpretative readings of works familiar from a range of world literary traditions.

In an easy-to-navigate format, Literature: An Introduction to Theory and Analysis covers such topics as:

·Key definitions – from plot, character and style to genre, trope and author
·Literature's relationship to the surrounding world – ethics, politics, gender and nature
·Modes of literature and criticism – from books to performance, from creative to critical writing

With annotated reading guides throughout and a glossary of major critical schools to help students when studying, revising and writing essays, this is an essential introduction and reference guide to the study of literature at all levels

Mads Rosendahl Thomsen is Associate Professor in Comparative Literature at Aarhus University, Denmark.

Lasse Home Kjaeldgaard is Professor of Literature at Roskilde University, Denmark.

Lis Moller is Associate Professor in Comparative Literature at Aarhus University, Denmark.

Dan Ringgaard is Associate Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark.

Lilian Munk Rosing is Associate Professor in Comparative Literature at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Peter Simonsen is Professor of European Literature at the University of Southern Denmark.

Introduction

Part 1: Essentials of Literary Analysis
1. Literature (Lasse Home Kjaeldgaard, Roskilde University, Denmark and Peter Simonsen, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)
2. Interpretation (Jesper Guldal, University of Newcastle, Australia)
3. Genre (tbc)
4. Plot (tbc)
5. Narrator (James Phelan, Ohio State University, USA)
6. Character (Lis Moller, Aarhus University, Denmark)
7. Voice (Lilian Monk Rosing, University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
8. Sensation (Isak Winkel Holm, University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
9. Rhythm (Dan Ringaard, Aarhus University, Denmark)
10. Trope (Christoph Bode, University of Munich, Germany)
11. Style (Eric Hayot, Penn State University, USA)
12. Intertext (Elizabeth Friis, University of Lund, Sweden)
13. Author (Shirley Jordan, Queen Mary, University of London, UK)
14. Reader (Winifred Fluck, Freie Universitat, Berlin, Germany)
15. Fiction (Julie Rivkin, Connecticut College, USA)

Part 2: Literature and the World
16. History (Matthew Hart, Columbia University, USA)
17. Ethics (Lasse Home Kjaeldgaard, Roskilde University, Denmark)
18. Politics (Jakob Ladegaard, Aarhus University, Denmark)
19. Gender (Vera Nunning, University of Heidelberg, Germany)
20. Ethnicity (Tabish Khair, Aarhus University, Denmark)
21. Desire (Lilian Monk Rosing, University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
22. Nature (Peter Mortensen, Aarhus University, Denmark)
23. Things (Karin Sanders, University of California, Berkeley, USA)
24. Place (tbc)
25. Mobility (Soren Frank, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)
26. Memory (Mads Rosendahl Thomsen, Aarhus University, Denmark)

Part 3: Media and Criticism
27. Books (Tore Rye Andersen, Aarhus University, Denmark)
28. Archives (Dennis Tennen, Columbia University, USA)
29. Remediation (tbc)
30. Art (Peter Simonsen, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)
31. Performance (Claire Warden, Lincoln University, UK)
32. Translation (Loredana Polezzi, University of Warwick, UK)
33. Creative Writing (Paul Dawson, University of New South Wales, Australia)
34. Critical Writing (Gloria Fisk, City University of New York, USA)
35. Quality (Susan Bassnett, University of Warwick, UK)
Critical Schools and Approaches
Bibliography
Index