by Peter Barry
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Product Description
In this second edition of Beginning Theory, the variety of approaches, theorists, and technical language is lucidly and expertly unraveled and explained, and allows readers to develop their own ideas once first principles have been grasped. Expanded and updated from the original edition first published in 1995, Peter Barry has incorporated all of the recent developments in literary theory, adding two new chapters covering the emergent Eco-criticism and the re-emerging Narratology.
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Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Overcoming the Intimidation Factor, 2008-02-09
This book was a supplemental text for my Graduate level Critical Theory class, and I thank my prof for that every time I open it up. Barry's writing is incredibly accessible -- even inviting, and,at times, humorous. He breaks down most of the major theorists' important and influential works into their key points (which are often buried under obtuse and circular language in the works themselves) and (briefly) applies them to well-known pieces of literature to show how theory is "done". Even for those of us who are "into" theory, writers like Derrida, Spivak, and Lacan can be intimidating; Barry helps the reader get beyond that and deep into the core of critical theory. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to broaden their understanding of literary theory, and I definitely recommend it new students who find themselves overwhelmed or intimidated by theory.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A truly helpful introduction to a difficult subject, 2007-10-07
Peter Barry's BEGINNING THEORY introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory is lucid, engaging, and challenging, and would make an ideal classroom text; but it's also a good one for those individuals like me who have been out of school for some time and are a little curious about how the reading and study of literature has changed over the past few decades. The book's thirteen chapters cover traditional criticism (liberal humanism); structuralism; post-structuralism and deconstruction; postmodernism; psychoanalytic criticism; feminist criticism; lesbian/gay criticism; Marxist criticism; new historicism and cultural materialism; postcolonial criticism; stylistics; narratology; and ecocriticism (the latter being the new kid on the block and usually not included in comparable Theory Introductions). Barry may not be the last word on all these subjects, but I felt he's a good starting point for just about anyone. He advocates reading carefully a few of the most pivotal texts on the subjects covered (rather than reading as broadly as possible); he succinctly summarizes each theory's tenets and practices in easy-to-absorb lists; he encourages readers to apply the theories in some way in "Stop and Think" exercises; and he provides annotated select reading lists for each chapter. This is a book I expect I'll be returning to time and again as I try to read some of the primary texts Barry recommends.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A Welcome Addition to the World of Theory, 2007-10-06
Whenever a college student takes that required first course in critical theory, that student ought to realize that this course is admittedly dense in both content and style, and as a consequence should have access to supplemental readings. Peter Barry with his BEGINNING THEORY is one of three such useful texts. Lois Tyson and Charles Bressler are the other two noteworthy introductory tomes. What is helpful in Barry is his initial chapter on "Theory before `theory'--liberal humanism." Most other critical texts scant the reader on the state of criticism as it existed before Jacques Derrida took the podium in 1966 and shook up the academic world by suggesting that the neat and tidy world of the liberal humanists was founded on a heavy-handed patriarchy that took for granted a spectrum of Western-based assumptions that had stood unchallenged since Plato. These liberal humanists have been on the run since then and Barry succinctly summarizes and analyzes who the major players were in this seismic eruption.
Barry structures his analyses of each school with a general historical overview of that school's paradigmatic assumptions. He includes what critics of that school generally think about as they ponder how to relate the intricacies of that school to specified literary texts. This listing is more useful than the uninitiated might think since when it comes time for the novice critic to make that transcendental leap from the abstruseness that is theory to the concrete reality that is text that neophyte must understand a plethora of assumptions that all too often get lost in the French translation but are clarified in Barry's capable hands. One example will do. Jacques Lacan is notorious for being dense and just plain hard to understand, but when Barry connects the denseness that is Lacan to the clarity that is Poe in his "The Purloined Letter," the various stages of self that seem muddled in the former now stand etched in clear relief by the latter.
One minor note: Barry closes his text with considerations of Stylistics, Narratology, and Ecocriticism, none of which have yet hit the mainstream as accepted modes of literary discourse. Still, for the eager undergraduate or the uneasy graduate student, Barry belongs on the same shelf that also houses Lois Tyson and Charles Bressler.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Ace All Your College Literature Courses or Just Learn More About Literary Theory, 2005-09-09
Wow. I bought this book when I was in college, but I never got around to reading it until this past week. I am absolutely amazed by how good it is, and I wish I had read it earlier.
If I had read this before going to college, I swear I would have aced all my English courses. Why am I so confident that this book would help me? Well, basically, this book gives you something like twenty different approaches to reading literature. After finishing the book, you will be more attuned to what you are reading. You should be able to say to yourself, "well, a stylistic critic would approach this book X way, while a postcolonial critic would approach this book Y way." Imagine your professor's astonishment when you hand in your first essay and the title of it is: "A Lacanian Approach to Jane Eyre." Provided you are able to follow Barry's model for what Lacanian critics do, and you make some decent Lacan-influenced points, you are almost guaranteed to receive an "A."
Of course, many potential readers of this book are out-of-college and, like me, will never get those college literature courses back. This book has utility for us also. It is great because it can give us new angles from which to explore books we have read before. I'm tempted to re-read Hamlet now that I understand the Freudian interpretaton of the play. I want to go back and decide for myself whether the Freudian interpretation is tenable.
Some posters have criticized this book for not probing deep enough. What rubbish! The title of the book is "Beginning Theory." Its intended audience is either people who are new to literary theory, or people who have not been able to make sense of the bombastic critical essays they have been assigned for class. The book serves its purpose extraordinarily well. It is clear, it is to the point, it provides excellent summaries of the major critical theories, and it even provides lists of suggested reading for people who want to read more about the various theories. In short, it is everything you need to get started learning about literary theory. It is a tremendous work, easily one of the best books I have ever read by an English professor. Thank you for writing such a cogent and lucid introductory work to this difficult subject, Professor Barry!
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
This is the one I recommend to my students, 2004-11-21
As a literature professor, I have a professional responsibility to know about literary theory. And let's face it: it's a pretty scary and complex subject, feared by many and mastered by few. In fifteen years in the business, I have read many books about lit crit and literary theory, and Peter Barry's book is BY FAR the best. It is, indeed, "only" an introduction to the subject, rather than an advanced study, but it is brilliantly clear, and blessedly jargon-free.
Barry writes as though his readers are new to the subject, but bright and curious. And he delivers the goods! This is the book I refer to when in doubt, and the book I encourage my graduate students to purchase. I would recommend anyone who is pursuing graduate study in the humanities to own and carefully read this book. If you read this one carefully, you won't need any of the other intro-to-lit-crit books on the market, which simply don't measure up.
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