Key Concepts in Literary Theory presents the student of literary and critical studies with a broad range of accessible, precise and authoritative definitions of the most significant terms and concepts currently used in psychoanalytic, poststructuralist, Marxist, feminist, and postcolonial literary studies. The volume also provides clear and useful discussions of the main areas of literary, critical and cultural theory, supported by bibliographies and an expanded chronology of major thinkers. Accompanying the chronology are short biographies of major works by each critic or theorist. The third edition of this reliable reference work is both revised and expanded, including: * more than 100 additional terms and concepts defined. * newly defined terms include keywords from the social sciences, cultural studies and psychoanalysis and the addition of a broader selection of classical rhetorical terms. * an expanded chronology, with additional entries and a broader historical and cultural range. * expanded bibliographies including key texts by major critics.

Julian Wolfeys is Professor of English Literature at the University of Portsmouth, where he is also Director of the Centre for Studies in Literature. He is author and editor of more than 40 books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century English literature and literary theory. Most recently he has published Dickens’s London and The Derrida Wordbook, both with Edinburgh University Press. He recently published his first novel, Silent Music. Ruth Robbins is Professor of English and head of the School of Cultural Studies at Leeds Metropolitan University. She is the author of a number of books on both literature and theory, including most recently Oscar Wilde (2011). Kenneth Womack is Professor of English at Monmouth University