Jeffrey R. Di Leo - The Bloomsbury Handbook of Literary and Cultural Theory

THE BLOOMSBURY
HANDBOOK OF LITERARY
AND CULTURAL THEORY

Bloomsbury Handbooks in Literary Studies

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Electronic Literature , edited by Joseph Tabbi

The Handbook to the Bloomsbury Group , edited by Stephen Ross and Derek Ryan

Forthcoming

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Contemporary American Poetry , edited by Craig Svonkin and Steven Gould Axelrod

The Bloomsbury Handbook of 21 st -Century Feminist Theory , edited by Robin Truth Goodman

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Literary and Cultural Theory

Edited by Jeffrey R. Di Leo

Contents

Jeffrey R. Di Leo

Paul Allen Miller

Herman Rapaport

Gerald Prince

Peter Hitchcock

Daniel T. OHara

Harold Aram Veeser

Jean-Michel Rabat

Steven Mailloux

Henry Sussman

Robin Truth Goodman

John Frow

Jeffrey T. Nealon

Nicole Simek

Claire Colebrook

Gregg Lambert

Aaron Jaffe

Alexander Beecroft

Brian OKeeffe

Toby Miller

Joseph Tabbi

Henry A. Giroux

Mike Hill

Christopher Breu

Zahi Zalloua

Jeffrey J. Williams

Sean Grattan

Vincent B. Leitch

Many of the contributors to this book I have come to know and admire through my work as editor of symplok, and executive director of the Society for Critical Exchange and its Winter Theory Institute. To them is my greatest debt of gratitude.

The notion that theory is a community offered in the introduction to this book is their faultnot mine. Their collegiality and collaboration in pursuit of theory has led me to this conclusion. It is an unshakeable one that has only grown stronger over the years. Though we may differ in our views as to theorys strengths and weaknesses, heroes and villains, the shared pursuit of theory trumps these differences.

Id also like to thank all of those who have contributed to this book that I have come to know through our collaborative work on this handbook. The experience of getting to know so many distinguished scholars and practitioners of theory from around the world primarily through correspondence on this book has been a rewarding and special experience for me. Thank you for sharing your insights on theoryand for working within the time and space constraints of this bookwhich as I know from many of you was not an easy thing. Your collective good will is much appreciated.

The idea for this Handbook was presented to me by David Avital of Bloomsbury. While working together on another project, we started to discuss this one over coffee in Vienna. The notion that it would not be a memorial to theory in the sense of just looking back at its past, but rather a more vibrant book that looks forward to its futures was one upon which we agreed. So too was a balance between the old and the new in theory. And so work on the book began. I deeply appreciate his unflagging encouragement regarding this project, and support in shepherding it through the peer review and publication process.

I am also grateful to Keri Farnsworth for her assistance in the production of this book, particularly in the early stages when I was facing the organizational challenges of a book that would involve hundreds of entries and contributors; to Vikki Fitzpatrick for her administrative support, especially in securing materials used for the development of this book; and to the late John Fizer of Rutgers University for introducing me to literary theory.

Finally, I would like to thank my wife Nina, for her unfailing encouragement, support, and patience.

A

Daniela Agostinho, University of Copenhagen (Denmark)

Manuel Aguirre, Universidad Autnoma de Madrid (Spain)

Thomas Allen, University of Ottawa (Canada)

Charles Altieri, University of California, Berkeley (United States)

Carlos M. Amador, Michigan Technological University (United States)

Eyal Amiran, University of California, Irvine (United States)

Michael Amrozowicz, University at Albany, SUNY (United States)

Myrdene Anderson, Purdue University (United States)

Sean Johnson Andrews, Columbia College Chicago (United States)

Paul Ardoin, University of Texas, San Antonio (United States)

B

Andrew Baerg, University of Houston-Victoria (United States)

Ian Balfour, York University (Canada)

Ian Barnard, Chapman University (United States)

Kiff Bamford, Leeds Beckett University (United Kingdom)

Jae Basiliere, Grand Valley State University (United States)

Jason M. Baskin, University of Exeter (United Kingdom)

Megan Becker-Leckrone, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (United States)

Alexander Beecroft, University of South Carolina (United States)

Michael C. Behrent, Appalachian State University (United States)

Charles Bernstein, University of Pennsylvania (United States)

R. M. Berry, Florida State University (United States)

Greg Bird, Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada)

Jacob Blevins, Sam Houston State University (United States)

Ronald Bogue, University of Georgia (United States)

Jay David Bolter, Georgia Institute of Technology (United States)

Marc Bousquet, Emory University (United States)

Michael Boylan, Marymount University (United States)

Christopher Breu, Illinois State University (United States)

Sarah Brouillette, Carleton University (Canada)

Bill Brown, University of Chicago (United States)

Carolyn E. Brown, University of San Francisco (United States)

Nicholas Brown, University of Illinois, Chicago (United States)

Gerald L. Bruns, The University of Notre Dame (United States)

Ashley Byock, Edgewood College (United States)

C

Mark Canuel, University of Illinois, Chicago (United States)

Sarah Phillips Casteel, Carleton University (Canada)

Nicholas Chare, Universit de Montral (Canada)

Szu-Ying Chen, University at Albany, SUNY (United States)

Flore Chevaillier, Texas State University (United States)

Keridiana Chez, City University of New York (United States)

Robert Chodat, Boston University (United States)

Ralph Clare, Boise State University (United States)

Richard A. Cohen, University at Buffalo (United States)

Tom Cohen, University at Albany, SUNY (United States)

Vincent Colapietro, Penn State University (United States)

Andrew Cole, Princeton University (United States)

Claire Colebrook, Penn State University (United States)

Daniel Conway, Texas A&M University (United States)

Eleanor Courtemanche, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (United States)

Clayton Crockett, University of Central Arkansas (United States)

D

Lennard Davis, University of Illinois, Chicago (United States)

Leland De la Durantaye, Claremont McKenna College (United States)

Steven Delmagori, University at Albany, SUNY (United States)

Shane Denson, Stanford University (United States)

Jeffrey R. Di Leo, University of Houston-Victoria (United States)

Robert Doran, University of Rochester (United States)

David B. Downing, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (United States)

Alan R. Dunn, University of Tennessee (United States)

John N. Duvall, Purdue University (United States)

E

Andrew Edgar, Cardiff University (United Kingdom)

John R. Ehrenberg, Long Island University (United States)

Stuart Elden, University of Warwick (United Kingdom)

Caryl Emerson, Princeton University (United States)