Three Very Short Introductions to Literary Criticism

The conundrums of literary theory and comparative literature don't get much clearer than this.

Here's OUP page about their Very Short Introductions series - check it out, you'll find plenty you want to read!

Buy Jonathan Culler's Very Short Introduction to Literary Theory on The Book Depository (yep I'm an affiliate):
Also buy Robert Eaglestone's Very Short Introduction to Contemporary Fiction:
And Ben Hutchinson's Very Short Introduction to Comparative Literature:
And why not, Tsvetan Todorov's The Fantastic:

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[coffeeskeletonfilms]

I just wanted to say how thankful I am for your channel and literary critiques. I rarely find people who can convey their love of an art form in clear ways, especially with literature. Most book reviewers I've seen on YouTube have either been people who only review Young Adult fiction and who don't view literature in any critical ways and those who are pretentious. Though both aren't inherently bad, I think you've done an excellent job existing beyond these tropes of critiques. Thank you and keep up the great work.

[RSEFX]

I very much enjoyed your discussion here, and the enthusiasm you convey about literature and all the different eyes we readers can open in order to see what is written in the fullest possible way.
I only will suggest slowing down a bit so we can better savor all of the things you bring up in your talks (maybe hard to do when one is as enthusiast as you are about such a beloved subject, huh?)

[litup]

Thanks for sharing. As an Undergrad English Major its nice to have a video of Literary Theory that reignites my enjoyment of theorizing/criticizing literature. I feel, at times, that all the theories I learned have blurred and the many philosophers of Freud, Lacan and more are lost in the jumble of my own mind, so its always good to revisit the theories in order to re-ground yourself when it comes to writing about a text, either for academia or casual study/enjoyment.

I’d recommend Charles E. Bressler's Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice, which nicely covers the history of literary theory as well as breaking down the theories themselves for newcomers to understand.

[yokk]

Another great video. If you ever have the time, could you perhaps provide a tutorial or a list of readings on the methods of close reading? I've always found the task of actually doing any kind of close reading of a text, be it in a class setting or during independent reading, to be immensely difficult. It's not exactly something philosophy majors are trained to do (whereas something like literary criticism comes a little more natural for us). Thanks!

[mayraviscarroferrer]

I study literature at uni. I really enjoy this type of content.

[thunderwood]

I picked up "The Maximalist Novel" that you recommended in one of your videos. It's a great read so far.

[Lollipopmorgue]

Literary theory isn’t interesting, but you are! Thanks for covering this topic!

[matteo]

I'm reading Jonathan Culler's book and it's great so far! I've had two existential crises and I'm only on the first chapter (not so great lol, but everything else is)

[Awesomeoo]

i'm always interested in the academic stuff!

[msshira]

Thank you so much for this video! I wouldn't mind more about this topic :)

[ManaOrMamnon]

gosh, call me a nerd, but I love literary theory! 🤦

[MarcNash]

thanks for this, I'm investing in the first two

[simonwasiolek]

Hey would you react to the Pulitzer prize this year? Thoughts on Kendrick Lamar winning for DAMN.?

[ericgrabowski]

What do you think about James Woods? I have one of his books on writing.

[ericgrabowski]

Book chemist who would you rather travel with - Quiote and Panza or Dean and Sal?

[bumsmanifesto]

Do you use auto-focus on your camera? If it has a manual focus, I would use that.

[diegomariacardona]

I read “I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream” (fantastic short story) last night. The author, Harlan Ellison talked about (in the story’s memoir) how he wasn’t a real fan of literary criticism on his story, especially the fact that they tried to draw so much philosophy and politics out of it and he just saw it as what it is. I just thought it’s interesting how different writers see literary criticism on their own work.

[fabriziobuonpane]

Mattia, perdona la curiosità off-topic, ma sei mai riuscito ad accaparrarti il Codex Seraphinianus?

[vrixphillips]

:'( I love literary theory, how dare you lolol

[johannbadenhorst]

Have you read Fat City by Leonard Gardner? It’s a damn masterpiece and I don’t really care much for boxing.