In “Goodbye, Mr. Keating” (Careers, July 7), Thomas H. Benton asserts that the academic study of literature is, or has become, incompatible with the love of literature that attracts so many students ...

Since structuralism in literary studies is largely of French origin, let this attempt to ruin its reputation have as its motto the words of a Frenchman, Pierre Bertaux: At one time it was hoped that ...

Finally, the New York Times has caught up with the next dubious trend in English literature departments: neuroscience. As Patricia Cohen writes, "Zealous enthusiasm for the politically charged and ...

The status of literature - its meaning, structure, truth value, and social function - has proven, throughout history, to be surprisingly controversial, and has generated endless commentary. This class ...

“THE reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”, quipped Mark Twain when a newspaperman informed him about his obituary published in a newspaper. Of late, the rumours about the death of Urdu ...

This essay argues that literary theory can no longer afford to adopt an exceptionalist view of its own disciplinary identity and relation to the Western tradition. To this end, it outlines a ...

Fredric Jameson, who died this week at age 90, was one of the last high theorists still standing. A key figure in the development of Marxist criticism, postmodernism and cultural theory, his works ...