The Return of Thematic Criticism

“This interdisciplinary collection sets the most advanced poetic and ideological approaches side-by-side to resolve the ancient conflict between formalism and the study of content. As a corollary, Sollors’ anthology seeks to sweep away or at least rehabilitate the theoretically impoverished notion-hunting of certain feminists, many new historicists, and race/class/gender critics, to say nothing of second-generation Derrideans… The distinguished contributors…definitely place thematic criticism back on the agenda, and, at the same time, call for a higher level of humanistic discourse.”—Virginia Quarterly Review

“This study of thematics opens up afresh the problems of literary theory… It also might be an impetus to re-examine the history of postmodernist theory which has co-opted one aspect of thematics in response to modernism but appears to have blithefully ignored what remains problematic.”—John Stephen Martin, Ariel

“This collection of essays on thematic criticism, edited by Werner Sollors, can be considered among the most successful and useful examples of the genre… The Return of Thematic Criticism gives a new turn to, and offers new points of observation on, a critical debate that has reached a phase of general confusion and has entered some blind alleys. It should stimulate a broad discussion of international scope, given the importance of the subject and the numbers of centers of research interested in it. The book can also be of notable help to scholars and students, for it can give new theoretical awareness to those who are engaged in some form of thematic criticism without having a theoretical awareness of what they do and without being bothered to consider the methodological problems involved.”—Remo Ceserani, Southern Humanities Review

“This is a judicious, wide-ranging study.”—J. F. O’Malley, Choice