Icon Books (UK), Totem books
(USA). Published 2001 (ISBN 1-84046-264-7)
Written by Stuart Sim,
Illustrated / designed by Borin Van Loon
The last few decades have seen an explosion in the production of
critical
theories:
deconstructionists,
poststructuraliststs,
postmodernists,
second-wave feminists,
new historicists,
cultural materialists,
postcolonialists,
black critics,
queer theorists...
to name but a few. The world around us can look very different
depending
on the critical theory applied to it. This vast range of
interpretations
can leave one feeling confused and frustrated. Introducing
Critical Theory
provides a route through the tangled jungle of competing theories. It
provides
a context for these recent developments by situating them within the
longer-term
tradition of critical analysis going back to the rise of Marxism. The
essential
methods of each theoretical school are presented in an incisive and
accessible
manner. Special attention is paid to recurrent themes and concerns that
have preoccupied a century of critical activity.
In design terms, the main
feature of each spread in this book is the
use of a simple ruled border at top and right linking three iconic
faces:
square, circular and triangular. The regularity of this feature is
varied
by making the circular face different on each spread (over 80
expessions!),
often interacting with the text. This title embodies much of the whole
'Introducing'
series and therefore many of the portraits of the leading figures:
there
are well over 100 in the book including seven or eight of Karl Marx...
Reviews
This books is best for those who are new to
Intercultural Study, it is
all
embracing. (http://zerosbook.org)
This
book, part of a series (basically "Philosophy for dummies")
will be purchased by stressed-out college students trying to write term
papers for literature class. After getting totally confused by the
impenetrable
writing of the great theorists themselves, students will turn to this
book
hoping to get some light. The book gives a decent overview of the major
theories, trying to put them in common language, something the
theorists
themselves seem incapable of writing in. It goes so far as to use
cartoons
to get the points across. While it will help sort out Deconstruction
from
Formalism and so on, don't count on this to save your term paper the
night
before its due. There's not enough detail on any of the theories to
stand
alone, and they are presented in a strange order. Also, some of the
major
schools of criticism (like New Criticism) don't appear. The author is
obviously
quite fond of Marxism. Unfortunately, the author also slides into some
of
the same kind of mumbo-jumbo as the original theorists themselves. The
idea
is still a great one, however. If you read this, then some of the more
specific
books that follow (Introducing Lacan, Derrida, etc) it may help get you
started.Hey, if the alternative is trying to sort through Derrida and
Barthes
themselves, then anything has got to be better. [4 star review] (http://www.fetchbook.info)
Critical
Thinking
During my time at university, Critical Theory was largely attributed to
the Frankfurt School. But a recent reference suggested a broader base,
so
just to check it out I bought Sim's introduction. Sure enough, the
contributors
to Critical Theory has been far more extensive (and varied) that I had
originally
been led to believe. What Critical Theory turns out to be is a network
of
concepts, covering a wide spectrum of positions, often with
contradictory
perspectives on the many issues and ideas involved. One fruitful way of
describing it, is as the historical inheritor of what Destutt de Tracy
tried
to create as a science of ideas just after the French Revolution (the
study
of which he named Ideology). Critical Theory is a succession of
deconstructions
of prevalent ideas, always with the objective to reveal their
implications
and debunk their pretensions. An interesting technique, but prone by
some
practitioners to McLuhan's Reversal Effect, wherein the tendency to
push
methods to extremes will undermine their early accomplishments. So Sim
urges
balance and caution - a wise piece of advice for the application of
every
technique. 'Illustrating concepts' by William Sheridan (http://www3.sympatico.ca/cypher/concepts.htm)
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