Critical Practice

What is poststructuralist theory, and what difference does it make to literary criticism? Where do we find the meaning of the text: in the author’s head? in the reader’s? Catherine Belsey considers these and other questions concerning the relations between human beings and language, readers and texts, writing and cultural politics. Critical Practice guides the reader confidently through the maze of contemporary theory, lucidly explaining the views of thinkers such as Althusser, Barthes, Lacan and Derrida. With a new chapter, updated guidance on further reading and revisions throughout, this second edition of Critical Practice remains the ideal guide to the present and future of literary studies.