Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory

Citation

Barry, P. (2017). Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory (4th ed.). Manchester University Press. Beginnings series.

Chapter Summary

The fourth edition, in Manchester University Press's Beginnings series, has about 380 pages: an introduction, fifteen chapters, appendices, a further reading section ("Where do we go from here?") and an index. Earlier editions appeared in 1995, 2002 and 2009. According to the publisher, this edition adds a new introduction and expanded chapters, and its final chapter, "Theory after 'Theory'", maps the "isms" that have arrived since the second and third editions. A review in Choice (October 2018) notes new sections on consilience and posthumanism and practical exercises for students new to the discipline.

Introduction; Chapter 1: Theory before 'Theory' – Liberal humanism

The book begins before theory proper, with liberal humanism, the approach to literature that the later schools defined themselves against, so that readers can see what the arrival of "Theory" changed.

Chapters 2–4: Structuralism; Post-structuralism and deconstruction; Postmodernism

Three chapters on the linked movements that transformed literary studies from the 1960s onward: structuralism, its successor post-structuralism with deconstruction, and postmodernism.

Chapters 5–7: Psychoanalytic criticism; Feminist criticism; Lesbian/gay criticism

Approaches centred on the psyche, gender and sexuality. In the contents given in the retail listing of the 2017 paperback, the seventh chapter is "Lesbian/gay criticism"; a 2020 ebook record of the fourth edition in the British Library catalogue lists it as "Queer theory".

Chapters 8–10: Marxist criticism; New historicism and cultural materialism; Postcolonial criticism

Politically and historically oriented criticism: Marxist criticism, the American new historicism with its British counterpart, cultural materialism, and postcolonial criticism.

Chapters 11–13: Stylistics; Narratology; Ecocriticism

Two language- and form-based approaches, stylistics and narratology, followed by ecocriticism, the study of literature and the environment.

Chapter 14: Literary theory – a history in ten events

A different kind of chapter, telling the history of theory through ten episodes. In the third edition, according to its catalogue record, these ran from Indiana University's 1958 "Conference on style" and the 1966 Johns Hopkins symposium through the publication of Deconstruction and Criticism (1979), the "MacCabe Affair" (1981), Eagleton's Literary Theory (1983), J. Hillis Miller's MLA presidential address and the Strathclyde "Linguistics of writing" conference (1986), the Paul de Man wartime-writings scandal (1987–88), Baudrillard's "The Gulf War never happened" (1991) and the Sokal Affair (1996).

Chapter 15: Theory after 'Theory'

The closing chapter surveys newer developments; the publisher describes it as mapping the new "isms" since 2002 and 2009, and the Choice reviewer mentions consilience and posthumanism among them. Appendices and the further reading section follow; in the third edition the appendices printed short texts by Edgar Allan Poe ("The Oval Portrait"), Dylan Thomas and William Cowper.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–4: Before and after "Theory"

• Liberal humanism: the earlier approach to literature against which modern theory defined itself.
• Structuralism: analysis of the underlying systems and structures that produce meaning.
• Deconstruction: post-structuralist reading that exposes instabilities within texts.
• Postmodernism: the cultural condition and theory treated in its own chapter.

Chapters 5–10: Psyche, gender, politics and history

• Psychoanalytic criticism: reading literature with concepts drawn from psychoanalysis.
• Feminist and lesbian/gay (queer) criticism: approaches centred on gender and sexuality.
• New historicism and cultural materialism: American and British approaches that read literary texts together with other texts and with power in their period.
• Postcolonial criticism: reading literature in relation to colonialism and its aftermath.

Chapters 11–15: Language, form, environment and history of theory

• Stylistics and narratology: linguistic analysis of literary style, and the study of narrative structure.
• Ecocriticism: the study of literature and the natural environment.
• Theory after "Theory": developments since the main schools, including consilience and posthumanism.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Written for students. The Choice reviewer (M. Anderson, Southern Oregon University) describes the book as explicitly written for students of English literature, readable and focused on putting students at ease and giving them tools for difficult concepts, with practical exercises that familiarise newcomers with different ways of using theory.
• Broad coverage in one volume. Fifteen chapters run from liberal humanism to ecocriticism and theory after "Theory". A review quoted by the publisher from the English Association Newsletter says no other book offers such a comprehensive account of the field combined with detailed exposition, and credits it with shaping how theory is taught in Britain and North America.
• History as well as method. The chapter telling the story of theory through ten events gives students a sense of how theory arrived and was contested, not only what each school says.
• Develops independent views. The publisher stresses that the book does not assume positions about the critics and theories it presents, leaving readers to form their own judgments once principles are grasped.

Limitations

• Canonical examples. The Choice reviewer notes that Barry tends to illustrate with canonical English authors such as Wordsworth, Austen and Shakespeare, which makes the book less useful for students of other literatures and languages.
• Modest revision. The same reviewer judges most changes in the fourth edition to be insubstantial, observes that newer theories, such as those relating to technology, get short shrift, and notes that most references and suggestions for further reading are unchanged from earlier editions.
• Introductory depth. Each school receives one chapter, so the book is a first map; students need the theorists' own writings and fuller accounts for essays and dissertations.

Where It Fits in the Course

In the literary theory course, Barry is the main school-by-school starting point. Jonathan Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction is shorter and organised around the key moves of theory rather than separate schools, and works well read first or alongside. Lois Tyson's Critical Theory Today covers a similar range of approaches but demonstrates every one on The Great Gatsby, so it suits students who learn best from repeated application to one text. Terry Eagleton's Literary Theory: An Introduction (whose 1983 publication Barry counts among his ten events) is a more argumentative, politically committed survey for a second stage. M. A. R. Habib's A History of Literary Criticism and The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism take students into the long history of criticism and the primary texts.

How to Use This Book

The book suits undergraduates meeting theory for the first time; no prior knowledge is required, though familiarity with a few canonical English texts helps, since many of the examples come from them.

• Start with Chapter 1. Understanding liberal humanism makes clear what the later chapters are reacting against.
• Read Chapters 2–4 as a unit. Structuralism, post-structuralism and postmodernism build on one another.
• Then choose by course. Chapters 5–13 can be taken in the order a course takes them, each paired with the primary texts it introduces.
• Do the exercises. Work through the practical exercises and try each approach on a short poem or story before moving on.
• Use Chapters 14–15 to connect. Read the history in ten events after the schools, to see how they arose and clashed, and "Theory after 'Theory'" at the end of a course; then follow "Where do we go from here?" into the further reading.