Introduction

the history and present condition of theory — a brief account

Richard Bradford

pp. 1-13

in: Richard Bradford (ed), Teaching theory, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011

Abstract

This volume can claim a special status within the "Teaching the New English" series because its subject is not a branch of the literary canon. It is a way of writing about, or frequently not about, literature. Theory has obtained and maintained a unique status in literary studies. It is neither literature nor in a conventional sense literary criticism, but something that can be both practised and studied in its own right.