Reading Marxist Literary Theory

In accessible language directed at the student and general reader, Drew Milne reintroduces Marxism to contemporary discussions of literary theory. Milne sets out to demystify a range of terms and debates and by addressing, for example, feminism, postmodernism, post-colonial theory, pyschoanalysis and queer theory, negotiates a space in which Marxism can inform and be informed by current theoretical developments. Each chapter isolates a particular conceptual problem emerging from the legacy of Marx and explores its development through the conflict between different Marxist literary theories and other literary traditions.

Against the shifting terrain of contemporary culture and politics, Milne argues that the traditions of both Marxism and literature provide emancipatory resources which should not be given up lightly. He thus makes a stimulating contribution to the current fraught debate about Marxism. At the same time his book stands as an ideal companion volume to his and Terry Eagletons Marxist Literary Theory: A Reader (1996) in which may be found much of the core material discussed and analysed in Reading Marxist Literary Theory.