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Article: American Literary Studies. A Methodological Reader.(Book Review)
- Article from:
- CLIO
- Article date:
- September 22, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Indiana University, Purdue University of Fort Wayne. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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American Literary Studies. A Methodological Reader. Ed. by Michael A. Elliott and Claudia Stokes. New York: New York UP. 2003. 349 pages.
There was a period not too long ago when books on literary theory and method were all the rage in the American academy. Since the nineties, however, the genre seems to have gone into decline. One reason may be that American literary criticism has run out of theory imports, but another may be seen in the ultimate sterility of the genre, at least as it was developed in surveys and readers aimed at the college market: the assumption that one can first outline a theory and then apply it like a manual to the interpretation of a ...