Over the course of a star-studded career, Terry Eagleton has carved out a role as a pre-eminent literary theorist, critic and academic. His Literary Theory: An Introduction, first published in 1983, has sold over half a million copies, proving it to be one of the most significant contributions to the field of English literature studies.
In it, Eagleton (who has held posts at Cornell, Yale, Duke, and Oxford Universities and now serves as Distinguished Professor of English Literature at Lancaster University) outlines for the reader a number of current critical frameworks, such as psychoanalysis. A staple text on university curricula, the text reflects Eagleton's Marxist approach to literary criticism, one that has made him and his work a focus of debate in the field of English literature.
Undoubtedly a key contribution to the study of English literature, Eagleton's Literary Theory continues to inspire debate and inform new generations of students of key approaches to reading literature.
