The Rebirth of American Literary Theory and Criticism

Harold Aram Veeser’s The Rebirth of American Literary Theory and Criticism provides crucial insight into the work that theory has done and continues to do in literary and cultural studies. The astute interviews with leading theorists demonstrate how theory transformed intellectual life for the better and how it continues to be perhaps the most vital force at work in contemporary humanist discourse. In our moment in which both theory and humanistic study are under attack from neoliberalism, renewed calls for the abandonment of theory, and new forms of anti-professional populism, Veeser’s volume demonstrates how important theory remains to the work we do as intellectuals and cultural critics. A necessary—not to mention pleasurable—read. — Christopher Breu, Professor, Department of English, Illinois State University

The interviews at the heart of this book amount to a group portrait of an exceptional generation of literary theorists who collectively challenged and enriched how we read and teach. In the tradition of his groundbreaking work on the New Historicism and on Edward Said, H. Aram Veeser, a deft interviewer, takes us behind the scenes, illuminating the personalities and myriad forces that led these gifted critics to challenge the status quo. An invaluable contribution to scholarship as well as a fascinating series of brief intellectual biographies, it’s also a book that captures a vital moment in our culture. —James Shapiro, author of Shakespeare in a Divided America

Critical histories usually tell us the main texts, but this volume recounts the experience of doing theory for “first adopters” in the 1970s up to Gen X critics reaching out to a wider public now. In a unified set of interviews, Veeser does a great service in building an oral history of the fate of theory and criticism from deconstruction to surface reading. —Jeffrey J. Williams, Co-editor, The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism

H. Aram Veeser has long been telling a compelling and essential story of academic charisma and the drama of ideas. In this landmark work, he goes further, talking to the theorists and letting us listen. It is a familiar question to ask, what is, or was, theory? This book goes further and asks, who created it, and where will they take it? No history of literary criticism will be complete without it. —David Yaffe, Syracuse University