9Theory on Theory. (1st August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sims, Robin
• Is Part Of: Year's work in critical and cultural theory. Volume 26:Number 1(2018)
• Page Start: 165
• Page End: 184
• Publication Date: 2018-08-01
• Subjects: English literature -- Periodicals; Critical theory -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals; 820.9
• DOI: 10.1093/ywcct/mby009
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1077-4254

Abstract

Abstract: This chapter reviews work published in 2017 (as well as one book published in 2016) which engages in theoretical reflection upon the nature and legacy of theory today. Key debates relate to the many 'deaths' of theory, the purpose of criticism, the relationship of fiction to history, and, following the development of speculative and other realisms in recent years, the question of the real. In addition to reconsiderations of the legacies of Marx, Derrida, and Lacan, new theories have been offered of the relation between literary form and its outsides and of minimalism, conceived as a cultural tendency which extends beyond the art, literature, and music of the mid-to-late twentieth century which the term typically names. The chapter demonstrates the continuing importance of poststructuralism, and its centrality to rigorous criticism and thought.