Texts: Contemporary Cultural Texts and Critical Approaches

Texts shows students how to use literary theory to approach a wide range of literary, cultural, and media texts ranging from short stories, autobiographies, political speeches, websites, and lyrics to such films as The Matrix and Harry Potter, to television shows like Big Brother, and to shopping malls, celebrities, and rock videos. Each chapter combines an introduction to the text and aspects of its critical reception with an analysis using one of sixteen key approaches, including established angles like feminism, postcolonial studies, and deconstruction to newer areas such as ecocriticism, trauma theory, and ethical criticism. Texts provides students with an innovative introduction to contemporary culture.