Introducing Literary Theories is an ideal introduction for those coming to literary theory for the first time. It provides an accessible introduction to the major theoretical approaches in chapters covering: Bakhtinian Criticism, Structuralism, Feminist Theory, Marxist Literary Theories, Reader-Response Theories, Psychoanalytic Criticism, Deconstruction, Poststructuralism, New Historicism, Cultural Materialism, Postcolonial Theory, Gay Studies/ Queer Theories, Cultural Studies and Postmodernism. A table of contents arranged by theoretical method and a second arranged by key texts offer the reader alternative pathways through the volume and a general introduction, which traces the history and importance of literary theory, completes the introductory material. In each of the following chapters, the authors provide a clear presentation of the theory in question and notes towards a reading of a key text to help the student understand both the methodology and the practice of literary theory. The texts used for illustration include: In Memoriam A.H.H., Middlemarch, Mrs Dalloway, Paradise Lost, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Prospero?s Books, The Swimming Pool Library and The Tempest. Every chapter ends with a set of questions for further consideration, an annotated bibliography and a supplementary bibliography while a glossary of critical terms completes the book.