Contemporary fiction and the uses of theory : the novel from structuralism to postmodernism

Contemporary Fiction and the Uses of Theory is a study of the reception and representation of critical theory in literary fiction since the 1960s. Despite its reputation as the bete noire of creative writers, critical theory has become a major imaginative resource for authors of contemporary fiction, who have pitched vigorously into debates around the death of the author, the demise of humanism, the rise of feminism, the emergence of 'hyperreality'. This topical study examines the ambitious 'novelizations' of radical literary theory in the work of AS Byatt, Angela Carter, Mark Z. Danielewksi, Umberto Eco, John Fowles, David Lodge, Richard Powers, and many others. It offers a comprehensive analysis of the 'post-theoretical' novel, and traces an alternative history of the 'theory wars' in the pages of recent literary fiction. Read more... Introduction: Fiction in(to) Theory -- The Structuralist Novel -- From Structuralism to Dialogics -- The Culture Wars and Beyond -- The Vanishing Author -- Foucauldian Fictions -- Feminism versus Poststructuralism -- Criminal Signs: Murder in Theory -- The Novel in Hyperreality -- Conclusion: Fiction After Theory