Reading for Form

An extraordinarily wide-ranging collection, spanning texts and issues from the Middle Ages to contemporary theory. Formalism, it becomes clear, is not something that literary studies have ever superseded but rather an abiding preoccupation that both literature and its critics have continually endorsed and assimilated in a surprising array of registers and concerns. The contributors are all leaders in their respective fields and their collective effort will be required reading for students of literature at all levels. -- William Galperin, Rutgers University

Reflecting varieties of theory and practice in both verse and prose from the Middle Ages to the twenty-first century, these essays by many of America's literary scholars call for a reinvigorated formalism that can enrich literary studies, open productive routes of commerce with cultural studies, and propel cultural theory out of its thematic ruts.

Reflecting varieties of theory and practice in both verse and prose from the Middle Ages to the twenty-first century, these essays by many of America's leading literary scholars call for a reinvigorated formalism that can enrich literary studies, open productive routes of commerce with cultural studies, and propel cultural theory out of its thematic ruts.

This book reprints Modern Language Quarterly's highly acclaimed special issue Reading for Form, along with new essays by Marjorie Perloff, D. Vance Smith, and Susan Stewart, and a revised introduction by Susan Wolfson. With historical case studies and insightful explorations, Reading for Form offers invaluable material for literary critics in all specializations.