Terry Eagleton

Terry Eagleton is one of the most influential contemporary literary theorists and critics. His diverse body of work has been crucial to developments in cultural theory and literary critical practice in modern times, and for a generation of humanities students his writing has been a source of both provocation and enjoyment. This book undertakes a lucid and detailed analysis of Eagleton's oeuvre. It gives close attention to the full range of Eagleton's major publications, examining their arguments and implications, as well as how they have intervened in wider debates in cultural theory. It also investigates his less familiar works, such as his early writing on the Catholic left, as well as other as yet unpublished material, showing how these works can be understood alongside the more prominent areas of his thought. Through this, this book offers a cohesive overview of Eagleton's career to date, tracing the development of his theoretical positions, and an assessment of Eagleton's wider contributions to fields such as Marxist literary criticism and cultural theory. It will be essential reading for students of literary criticism, cultural theory, and intellectual history.

List of abbreviations viii Introduction 1 1 Eagleton and the Catholic Left 9 2 From Williams to Althusser: Eagleton’s Early Literary Criticism 32 3 The Critic as Azdak: Eagleton in the 1980s 59 4 The Ideology of the Postmodern 93 5 Nationalism, Socialism, and Ireland 117 6 The Full Circle? 140 Notes 168 Index 183