What is Literary Theory? Is there a relationship between literature and culture? In fact what
is Literature and does it matter? These are the sorts of questions addressed by Jonathan
Culler in a book which steers a clear path through a subject which is often perceived to be
impenetrable. It offers insights into theories about the nature of language and meaning
whether literature is a form of self-expression or a method of appeal to an audience and
outlines the ideas behind a number of different schools: deconstruction semiotics
postcolonial theory and structuralism amongst them.
