Dictionary of Cultural and Critical Theory

Michael Payne is Professor of English Emeritus at Bucknell University, USA. He is general editor for The Bucknell Lectures in Literary Theory (with Harold Scheizer, 12 vols., 1990–1995); author of Reading Theory: An Introduction to Lacan, Derrida, and Kristeva (1993) and Reading Knowledge:  An Introduction to Barthes, Foucault, and Althusser (1997); and editor of Renaissance Literature: An Anthology (with John Hunter, 2003), and The Greenblatt Reader (with Stephen Greenblatt, 2005) all published by Wiley-Blackwell. Jessica Rae Barbera is a doctoral candidate in the English Department at the University of Pittsburgh. Her areas of specialization include Cultural and Critical Theory, British Modernism, Psychoanalysis, Literatures of Medicine and Science, Illness Narratives, and Memoir. She is the recipient of the 2009−2010 Andrew Mellon Fellowship, and is currently at work on her dissertation, The Medicalization of Pain: The Human in the 20th Century.

“Such reservations apart, there is much of value here and students of literature, cultural studies, philosophy, and related studies will find this a useful resource.”  (Reference Reviews, 2012)"The first aspect of "added value" in the second edition of A Dictionary of Cultural and Critical Theory lies in the fact that this dictionary is written and edited by experts. There are some world-class scholars among the contributors here, and many of the longer entries are insightful as well as challenging (Simon Frith's and Christopher Norris's, among others, stand out, as do many by the editors themselves: Jessica Rae Barbera on Elaine Scarry, for example)." (Times Literary Supplement, 6 January 2012)"Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through graduate students." (Choice, 1 May 2011)"Thoughtfully structured and containing an impressive array of generally well-written entries, this book will be a welcome addition to the shelves of many reference collections." Reference ReviewsAmazon.co.uk reviews of first edition:"This book is a must for any who has an interest in Cultural Studies firstly, but secondly any other subject area within the field: psychoanalysis, cinema studies, feminism - it's all in there! Each "dictionary" entry is concise and understandable with cross referencing to offer a complete all round knowledge! Good to point you in the right direction for an essay or simply to help make sense of the reading for your course!" "If there has ever been a must in Cultural and/or Contemporary studies- this is it. I started studying Contemporary Cultural Studies in Germany this Summer and a fellow student gave me the advice to buy this book. Since then I' ve read it from cover to cover about 2 times! It doesn't only cover the essentials, but is also crosslinked very well outlineing the development of Cultural science. Besides all this it is also written in a manner that you can understand everything reading it only once!Thanks to Michael Payne and his book my studies have become more profund and easier at the same time!"  Amazon.com review of first edition:"I strongly reccomend this book to anyone working in the fields of cultural and communications theory. The explanations are straightforward and accurate. The cross-referencing is exhaustive and well laid out. The first dictionary I ever read cover to cover!!!"

• List of Contributors viPreface to the First Edition (1996) xPreface to the Second Edition (2010) xiiAcknowledgments xivIntroduction 1A–Z entries 12Bibliography 742Index 808