Evolution and Literary Theory

by Joseph Carroll

Overview

Carroll anatomizes the irrationalism of current literary theory with surgical precision. In a concise, lucid prose, he lays bare the sophistries at the heart of the doctrines propounded by Derrida, Foucault, Jameson, Greenblatt, Eagleton, J. Hillis Miller, Fish, and many others. In opposition to the textualism and indeterminacy that constitute the central doctrines of poststructuralism, Carroll affiliates himself with a realist and naturalist tradition of thought that runs from Darwin and Huxley, through Leslie Stephen and Thorstein Veblen, to Konrad Lorenz and Karl Popper. He offers a comprehensive synthesis of current evolutionary theory in the human sciences, and he shows why the evolutionary paradigm provides the only adequate source for a modern theory of culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826209795
Publisher:	University of Missouri Press
Publication date:	02/01/1994
Edition description:	1
Pages:	536
Product dimensions:	6.13(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Joseph Carroll is the author of The Cultural Theory of Matthew Arnold and Wallace Stevens' Supreme Fiction.  He is Professor of English at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Editorial Reviews

"Joseph Carroll's Evolution and Literary Theory is a courageous and much needed attempt to do battle with the dragon of social constructivism. Although, as its title suggests, the book focuses on literary theory, its scope is really much wider."—Washington Times

"Carroll is a man with big ideas and a big subject. If he is interested in literary criticism, and indeed he is, he is also interested in running this back to the moment of creation and looking on ahead to what may come to pass in the centuries ahead. In short, he has an enormous philosophical thesis."—Cleanth Brooks

"Evolution and Literary Theory is indeed a work of considerable erudition, and also a work of substantial engagement, partly because of the quality of the author's openness of mind, reasonableness of argument, and clarity of writing. . . . In recollection of Darwin's description of The Origin of Species, Carroll's book is one long argument against poststructuralism in the light of what is now known about Darwinian naturalism. For, contrary to other criticisms that might be made about poststructuralism, Carroll has an alternative for those literary critics who find poststructuralism inadequate or simply wrong-headed. . . . It is the Darwinian naturalism that is the central contribution of Carroll."—Carl N. Degler

From the Publisher

Carroll (English, U. of Missouri) attacks the principles of poststructuralism and offers a new theory that situates literary criticism within the matrix of evolutionary theory. He affiliates himself with a realist and naturalist tradition of thought that runs from Darwin and Huxley through Konrad Lorenz and Karl Popper. He offers a synthesis of current evolutionary theory in the human sciences, and illustrates his arguments with references to writers of various periods. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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