A Future for Criticism

Catherine Belsey author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Published:28th Jan '11

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

A Future for Criticism cover

A Future for Criticism considers why fiction gives so much pleasure, and the neglect of this issue in contemporary criticism. 

  • Offers a brief, lively, and accessible account of a new direction for critical practice, from one of Britain's most prominent literary theorists and critics
  • Proposes a new path for future criticism, more open to reflecting on the pleasures of fiction
  • Written in a clear, jargon-free style, and illustrated throughout with numerous examples

"The unbuttoned directness of this little book is invigorating." - Jean E. Howard (Shakespeare Studies, 2013)

"A Future for Criticism issues a challenge to critics that really amounts to having the courage of our convictions and sticking to what we're good at, resisting the encroachments of history and psychology, and having 'confidence in the independent capabilities of criticism' (76) ... Belsey's book is a positive pleasure to read." (Transnational Literature, November 2011)

"Laudably eschewing jargon, she draws up a very readable manifesto for change in critical practice which would require critics to be more reflective about the pleasure of reading fiction and attending plays . . . nevertheless, the front she has chosen on which to examine a new direction for literary and/or cultural criticism is timely and compelling, and her argument made with verve and originality." (Suite101.com, 4 April 2011)

ISBN: 9781405169578

Dimensions: 236mm x 160mm x 16mm

Weight: 399g

160 pages