The Greatest Books in Literary Theory

Discover the greatest books in literary theory, from Wayne C. Booth's The Rhetoric of Fiction to Wolfgang Iser's The Implied Reader and The Act of Reading. Explore essential works on narrative, reader-response, and critical analysis in this curated list of foundational texts for students and scholars.

The structure of complex words Cover
Book

The structure of complex words

 

No summary available.
Seven types of ambiguity Cover
Book

Seven types of ambiguity

 

No summary available.
The anxiety of influence Cover
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The anxiety of influence

 

No summary available.
A map of misreading Cover
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A map of misreading

 

No summary available.
Mimesis Cover
Book

Mimesis

 

No summary available.
Anatomy of Criticism Cover
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Anatomy of Criticism

 

No summary available.
The Aims of Interpretation Cover
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The Aims of Interpretation

by E. D. Hirsch Jr.

No summary available.
Book Cover
Book

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The Act of Reading Cover
Book

The Act of Reading

by Wolfgang Iser

By defining what happens during the act of reading, that is, how aesthetic experience is initiated, develops, and functions, Iser's book provides the first systematic framework for assessing the communicatory function of a literary text within the context from which it arises. It is an important work that will appeal to those interested in the reading process, aesthetic theory, literary criticism, and basic theoretical aspects of the novel. Book jacket.
The Implied Reader Cover
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The Implied Reader

 

No summary available.
Principles of literary criticism Cover
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Principles of literary criticism

 

No summary available.
Practical criticism Cover
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Practical criticism

 

No summary available.
The meaning of meaning Cover
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The meaning of meaning

 

No summary available.
Book Cover
Book

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No summary available.
Toward an aesthetic of reception Cover
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Toward an aesthetic of reception

 

No summary available.
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Book

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No summary available.
Genres in discourse Cover
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Genres in discourse

 

No summary available.
Paratexts Cover
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Paratexts

 

No summary available.
Narrative discourse revisited Cover
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Narrative discourse revisited

 

No summary available.
Narrative discourse Cover
Book

Narrative discourse

 

No summary available.
Book Cover
Book

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The writing of the disaster = Cover
Book

The writing of the disaster =

 

No summary available.
The Rhetoric of Fiction Cover
Book

The Rhetoric of Fiction

by Wayne C. Booth

A standard reference point in advanced discussions of how fictional form works, how authors make novels accessible, and how readers recreate texts. Its concepts and terms have become standard critical lexicon.
The Theory of the Novel Cover
Book

The Theory of the Novel

 

No summary available.