Books in the Routledge Critical Thinkers series

The American theorists Henry James, Lionel Trilling and Wayne C Booth have revolutionized our understanding of narrative. This book explores their understanding of the novel form. It investigates their ideas on: realism and representation; authors and narration; point of view and centres of consciousness; readers, and moral intelligence.

Giorgio Agamben is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary continental philosophy and critical theory. This book explains Agamben's key ideas, including: an overview of his work; analysis of Agamben's philosophy of language and life; and, theories of ethics and 'witnessing'.

Presents Hannah Arendt's work. This book offers a critical engagement with the cultural and philosophical crises of mid-twentieth-century Europe. It contains key ideas from her works such as "The Origins of Totalitarianism" and "The Human Condition".

Jean Baudrillard is one of the controversial theorists, famous for his claim that the Gulf War never happened and for his provocative writing on terrorism, specifically 9/11. This title examines the impact that Baudrillard has had on literary studies, media and cultural studies, sociology, philosophy and postmodernism.

As the founding figure of the movement known as 'existentialism', Jean-Paul Sartre was a key figure in twentieth-century literature and philosophy, whose writings changed the course of critical thought. This book sets Sartre's thought in context, and considers a number of key ideas, charting their impact and continuing influence.

Provides readers with the tools required to interpret Adorno's works, whilst also introducing readers to his interpretation of classical German philosophy and his relationship to his contemporaries.

Paul Virilio is a challenging and original thinker whose work on technology, state power and war is becoming increasingly relevant. Exploring Virilio's main texts from their political and historical contexts, the author introduces the key themes in Virlio's work, including: speed; virtualization; war; politics; and, future.

Best known for his theories of ethics and responsibility, Emmanuel Levinas was one of the most profound and influential thinkers of the 20th century. This guide examines why Levinas is increasingly fundamental to the study of literature and culture.

F R Leavis is one of the most influential thinkers in twentieth-century theory. Drawing on the work of F R Leavis and the repercussions and responses that have arisen from it, this book examines concepts including: culture; mass; civilisation; tradition; practical criticism; and, life.

Questioning not just literary but social, political and cultural assumptions about knowledge and power, Greenblatt's work has had a huge impact on contemporary theory. This work discusses ideas specific to particular works and explores the relation of Greenblatt's thought to new historicism as well as other modes of criticism.

This guide offers students of literature and culture a refreshingly clear introduction to Butler's crucial ideas, including the formation of identity, subjecthood and gender performativity.

A clear introduction to Kristeva examining her work on language and textuality, subjectivity, feminism and sexuality, politics, identity and nationality.

Surveys a 'cluster' of works that seek to explore the cultures of cyberspace, the Internet and the information society. This work introduces ideas, and includes a discussion of the work of two thinkers in this area, Manuel Castells and Donna Haraway. It also includes topics such as: life on the screen; network society; cyborg methods; and more.

Edward Said is perhaps best known as the author of "Orientalism", a book which changed the face of critical theory and shaped the emerging field of post-colonial studies. This volume explains Said's key ideas, their contexts and impact, with reference to both his scholarship and journalism.

Sara Mills offers an introduction to both the ideas of Michel Foucault and the debate surrounding him, fully equipping student readers for an encounter with this most influential of thinkers.

Stuart Hall was one of the founding fathers of cultural studies. This text places Hall's work within its historical, cultural and theoretical contexts, providing a clear guide to his key ideas and influences, as well as his critics and his intellectual legacy.

Focusing on the work of Laura Mulvey, Kaja Silverman, Teresa de Lauretis and Barbara Creed, this book explores how, since it began in the 1970s, feminist film theory has revolutionized the way that films and their spectators can be understood. It is useful for students of film theory and women's studies.

Homi K. Bhabha is one of the most highly renowned figures in contemporary post-colonial studies. This introductory guidebook is ideal for all students working in the fields of literary, cultural and postcolonial theory.

Modernist poetry heralded a radical new aesthetic of experimentation, pioneering new verse forms and subjects. This volume examines three of the most influential figures of the modernist movement, and argues that we cannot dissociate their bold, inventive poetic forms from their profoundly engaged theories of social and political reform.

Tracing the developing modernist aesthetic in the thought and writings of James Joyce, Dorothy Richardson and Virginia Woolf, this book considers the cultural, social and personal influences upon the three writers. It explores the connections between their theories, and gives attention to their work on various aspects.

With a special focus on Derrida's relevance for literary and cultural studies, this text offers invaluable advice on reading Derrida's texts and guidance on the vast range of criticism responses to his work.

Drawing upon Beauvoir's literary and theoretical texts, this introduction to her thought guides the reader through the main areas of Simone de Beauvoir's thought, including: existentialism and ethics; gender studies and feminism; literature and autobiography; and sexuality, the body and ageing.