Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory by Peter Barry

“Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory” by Peter Barry is a book that presents literary and cultural theory in a systematic, simple and coherent way. The book provides clear explanations and demonstrations of 12 important critical and cultural theories, the main ones include: Structuralism, Post Structuralism, Post Modernism, Psychoanalytic Criticism, Feminism, Lesbian/gay criticism, Marxist criticism, New historicism, Postcolonial Criticism, Stylistics, Narratology and Ecocriticism. Each theory has been explained in a separate chapter and each chapter explains the principal ideas of the respective approach, talks about what that type of critic does, offers examples and puts forward questions to the reader.

The book is presented in a clear, succinct and structured way. There is a clear contents page that provides the page number, title and the specific contents (with the use of subheadings) of each chapter in the book. Barry also provides an annotated bibliography that is extremely effective in presenting additional texts that can offer better detail on the concepts and theories discussed in the book. The specific subheadings in each chapter are a huge advantage as it breaks down the explanation and doesn’t seem like long ‘drone on’ on a subject that is already difficult to grasp. The use of subheadings also makes it easier for the reader to go back to any particular section of a certain approach that they would like to review or understand; almost like a textbook. Every chapter in the book is written in an analogous pattern. Furthermore, Barry makes it even simpler for the reader by including ‘checklists’ in every chapter, for example, “What structuralist critics do?” or “what Freudian psychoanal...

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...of this was in the Post-Structuralism “Stop and Think” section where there was too much explanation “Derrida” instead of asking questions.

“Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory” is a book that gives a complete overview of literary theory. The book introduces a variety of concepts and theorists in a very coherent but detailed way. The book’s strengths are that they allow the reader to build their own views and ideas about the various theories after understanding the explanation provided by Barry. There are no major limitations with the book and overall it is fantastic for anyone learning or interested in literary theory. It can be regarded as the perfect guide to Literary and Cultural Theory.

Bibliography

1. Peter Barry, Beginning Theory An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, Third Edition, Manchester University Press, 2009.