Literary Theory: An Introduction

Citation

Eagleton, T. (2008). Literary Theory: An Introduction (25th anniversary ed.). University of Minnesota Press. (First published 1983; second edition 1996.)

Chapter Summary

The book is short. In the University of Minnesota Press anniversary edition, the text runs to about 210 pages, followed by notes, a bibliography and an index (234 pages in all). It has three prefaces (to the anniversary edition, to the second edition and to the first), an Introduction, five numbered chapters, a closing chapter on political criticism and an Afterword. The core of the book dates from 1983. The second edition (1996) added the Afterword, which the publisher describes as a major survey chapter on developments in cultural theory since first publication, including feminist theory, postmodernism and poststructuralism. The anniversary edition (2008) adds a new preface in which Eagleton reflects on the state of theory in the academy, on what he calls the growth of "anti-theory", and on the place of theory in survey courses.

Google Books' index of frequent names for this edition (among them Leavis, I. A. Richards, Husserl, Heidegger, Hirsch, Saussure, Barthes, Derrida, Freud and Lacan) indicates who is discussed. The attribution of names to chapters below follows the chapter titles.

Introduction: What is Literature?

About fourteen pages that ask the question in the title before any theory is introduced. The publisher frames the book as written for readers who want to understand what literature is and what it is for, and this opening sets up that question for the chapters that follow.

Chapter 1: The Rise of English

About thirty pages on the history of English as an academic subject. Leavis and I. A. Richards, figures central to the formation of English studies, are among the book's most frequent names, and the chapter is the place where the discipline's own history becomes part of the argument.

Chapter 2: Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, Reception Theory

Theories centred on consciousness, interpretation and the reader. Husserl, Heidegger and Hirsch are among the names that recur in the book and belong to these traditions.

Chapter 3: Structuralism and Semiotics

Theories that treat literature in terms of underlying systems of signs and codes, with Saussure and Barthes among the frequent names.

Chapter 4: Post-Structuralism

The shortest of the numbered chapters (about twenty pages). It covers the critique of structuralism associated above all with Derrida and deconstruction.

Chapter 5: Psychoanalysis

The longest chapter (nearly forty pages), on Freud and Lacan and their uses for criticism. The Oedipus complex and Paul Morel, the hero of D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, are among the book's frequent terms, which suggests that a literary reading illustrates the theory here.

Conclusion: Political Criticism

About twenty pages in which Eagleton states his own position rather than surveying others'. Listed as "Conclusion" in the Library of Congress contents and as Chapter 6 in the publisher's, it is where the book's survey turns into an argument about what criticism is for.

Afterword

The 1996 survey of later developments, about twenty pages long. It covers feminist theory, postmodernism, poststructuralism and cultural theory more broadly.

Key Concepts

Introduction and Chapter 1

• The definition of literature: the opening question of what, if anything, makes a text literary.
• English as an institution: the study of literature treated as a discipline with its own history and purposes.

Chapters 2–3

• Phenomenology and hermeneutics: approaches to meaning through consciousness and the process of interpretation.
• Reception theory: the reader's role in producing a text's meaning.
• Structuralism and semiotics: the analysis of literature as an arrangement of signs within a system.

Chapters 4–5

• Post-structuralism and deconstruction: the questioning of stable structures of meaning.
• Psychoanalytic criticism: reading literature through the theories of the unconscious developed by Freud and Lacan.

Conclusion and Afterword

• Political criticism: the claim that literary theory is bound up with political and social questions.
• Later theory: feminist theory, postmodernism and cultural theory as surveyed in the Afterword.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Condensed and readable. The critics quoted by the publisher agree on this. The New York Times Book Review called it concise and lucid, a satisfying survey from structuralism to deconstruction. The London Sunday Times described it as a feat of condensation, explication and synthesis with a racy readability. At roughly thirty pages per movement, each chapter is short enough to read in a week.
• An argument as well as a survey. The same Sunday Times notice called the book a polemical essay as well as an introduction. Because the book ends with "Political Criticism", readers see theory evaluated, not only described. That makes it a good starting point for discussion and essay writing.
• History of the discipline. Opening with the rise of English as a subject places theory within the history of literary studies rather than presenting it as a list of methods.
• Updated framing. The Afterword (1996) and the anniversary preface (2008) let the book comment on its own reception and on what happened to theory after 1983.

Limitations

• Selective and dated coverage. Only five movements receive chapters, and the main text dates from 1983. Feminist theory and postmodernism have no chapters of their own and are surveyed mainly in the Afterword. Theories that became prominent later receive little or no treatment, so students who need a current map of the field must supplement the book.
• Not neutral. Eagleton's own position shapes the book, as the critics quoted above and the closing chapter make plain. Readers who need a balanced reference should treat it as one voice in the debate.
• No primary texts. The book discusses theorists without reprinting them, so a course will need an anthology for the original texts.

Where It Fits in the Course

Eagleton works best as the second book in this course. For a first meeting with theory, Peter Barry's Beginning Theory explains each school in plain language and shows it at work on a short text. Jonathan Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction presents theory as a set of key moves rather than rival schools. Lois Tyson's Critical Theory Today is the most practical of the course's guides, applying each approach to The Great Gatsby, and suits students who want to practise readings.

Eagleton, by contrast, offers a single argued account of the major movements and why they matter. After or alongside it, The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism supplies the primary texts by the theorists Eagleton discusses. M. A. R. Habib's A History of Literary Criticism places modern theory within the long history of criticism from antiquity onwards. Eagleton's opening chapter on the rise of English touches that broader context only for one discipline.

The Nova Gorica course described below also lists Culler's Very Short Introduction beside Eagleton as a basic reading. The two are co-listed there, not presented as substitutes for each other.

How to Use This Book

The book suits undergraduates in a first theory course who have read some literature and are ready for an argued account. Its brevity also makes it a useful overview for graduate students starting out in theory.

A practical approach:

• Read the Introduction and Chapter 1 first. They set up the questions on which the rest of the book depends: what literature is and why English is studied.
• Pair each of Chapters 2–5 with primary texts. After each chapter, read a short essay in an anthology by one of the theorists it discusses. Then come back to Eagleton's account and test it against the original.
• Read "Political Criticism" as an argument to answer. It states Eagleton's own view of criticism, and writing an essay that agrees or disagrees with it is a good way to consolidate the course.
• Use the Afterword and the anniversary preface for the later story. Supplement them with a more recent introduction for feminist, postcolonial and other later approaches.

Check which edition a syllabus uses. The 1983 first edition lacks the Afterword, and page numbers differ between editions.

Common course assignments

Two listings show the different roles the book can play. Neither specifies chapters or pages, so neither shows how much of the book is actually read.

• Undergraduate core reading (Nova Gorica). Introduction to Literary Studies (course 1JLDT102) is a mandatory first-semester course in the programme Language and literature in the digital world (course listing). It is taught in Slovenian, has no entry prerequisites and is undated in the listing.
  • Eagleton is a "Basic" reading alongside Culler and works by Tomo Virk. The additional readings include a dictionary (Baldick) and a practical guide (Pugh and Johnson). The course supplements its required literature each year with articles and literary works.
  • The course topics include Formalism, Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, Reception Theory, structuralism, post-structuralism and psychoanalysis, which overlap with Chapters 2–5. They sit alongside rhetoric, stylistics, narrative theory, canon and ideology, and intertextuality.
  • A first-year reader should therefore use Eagleton together with terminology and analytical practice rather than as the only text.
• Graduate examination option (UTSA). The English M.A. Traditional Exam Reading List (reading list PDF) is effective 1 June 2025–31 May 2027. It is a programme exam list, not a course.
  • Students who answer the Literary Theory question instead of the Thematic one choose two of three texts: Eagleton, Robert Dale Parker's How to Interpret Literature, and Chela Sandoval's Methodology of the Oppressed. They also add five theory essays developed with their examination advisor and approved by the advisor and the M.A. GAR.
  • Eagleton is a selectable option here, not required of every candidate. The list gives no comparison of the three books.

Edition note. This guide describes the 2008 University of Minnesota Press anniversary edition. Nova Gorica lists a 1996 Blackwell printing without an edition number, and UTSA gives author and title only. If you are working from either list, confirm which edition your instructor or examination advisor expects before relying on page references or the anniversary preface.