Texts takes a wide range of visual, virtual, performative and written texts as a means of exploring both the ‘the literary’ and ‘the textual’ in contemporary culture. Each chapter includes an introduction to the text and aspects of its critical reception as well as an extended analysis using one of sixteen important critical/theoretical approaches from established critical angles like feminism, postcolonial studies, and deconstruction to newer areas such as ecocriticism, trauma theory, and ethical criticism. Each chapter also discusses the features of the type of text under analysis and indica ... More

Texts takes a wide range of visual, virtual, performative and written texts as a means of exploring both the ‘the literary’ and ‘the textual’ in contemporary culture. Each chapter includes an introduction to the text and aspects of its critical reception as well as an extended analysis using one of sixteen important critical/theoretical approaches from established critical angles like feminism, postcolonial studies, and deconstruction to newer areas such as ecocriticism, trauma theory, and ethical criticism. Each chapter also discusses the features of the type of text under analysis and indicates alternative ways in which the text might be read by drawing on other critical approaches. Illustrating the variety of critical and theoretical tools that can be used for analysis, Texts examines a broad spectrum of contemporary culture from short stories, autobiographies and lyrics, through The Matrix, Harry Potter, and Big Brother, to shopping malls, celebrities, and rock videos. An excellent guide to ways of reading the contemporary world, this is essential reading for anyone who ever wanted to know how to analyse a text, whether it be a poster or a building complex, a political speech or a photograph, an event like the Millennium or a website like Amazon.