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9781394188871

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Habib has an unrivaled ability to synthesize complex doctrines in clear and lively prose, hence this perfectly balanced introduction to literary criticism – a must-read for all students in the humanities. Jean-Michel Rabaté, University of Pennsylvania, American Academy of Arts and Sciences Literary Criticism from Plato to Post-Theory accomplishes the nearly impossible in being both concise and exhaustive; it works as a book of reference, a history of philosophy, and a lucid scholarly argument for the value of literature. Habib traces the history of literary criticism through six major periods, whose features are described in succinct yet nuanced detail with illuminating commentary on chief philosophers, theorists, and poets. In every chapter, but most urgently in the last one addressing our present times, Habib’s careful analysis of material contexts, philosophical concepts, and literary texts confirms that all new theories have long histories, that no discovery is without antecedents, that judgments, tastes, and values are never autonomous. Clear and wonderfully readable, Habib’s book is as engrossing as it is convincing. Harold Schweizer, author of On Waiting and On Lingering and Literature

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M.A.R. Habib is Distinguished Professor of English at Rutgers University and a leading scholar in literary criticism, philosophy, and translation. He is the author of Hegel and the Foundations of Literary Theory, Hegel and Empire, Literary Studies: A Norton Guide, and The Early T.S. Eliot and Western Philosophy. Habib has edited The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism: Volume VI and the Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (originally compiled by J.A. Cuddon). His work also includes several translations of Urdu poetry.

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