"Waste Land" (Theory in Practice) Book

For all its status as a classic text of literary modernism, and despite the mountain of commentary it has provoked since its publication in 1922, "The Waste Land" has lost none of its power to excite, disturb and infuriate, and continues to pose a fresh challenge to each new generation of readers and critics. Does the poem articulate a coherent ideology or subjectivity, or is it no more than a heap of poignant and enigmatic fragments? What are readers to make of its bewildering array of voices, idioms, languages? This collection of newly-commisioned essays brings a range of contemporary critical perspectives to bear on these and other questions, offering readings that are both theoretically-informed and attentive to the language and structure of the poem. Each essay outlines a theoretical position and context and defines the key terms and concepts to be used, before developing a reading that demonstrates their practical implications for interpretation and understanding. The essays are framed by an editorial introduction, giving an account of the critical history of the poem, and a brief endpiece drawing together some of the theoretical and interpretive issues that have emerged in the essays. The aim throughout is not to offer would-be authoritative or definitive interpretations, but to suggest some of the ways in which contemporary theory can help students to develop their own readings of "The Waste Land" and to reflect on the wider assumptions and implications that are inseparably involved in those readings.Read More