Terry Eagleton is widely recognized as Britain's most influential living literary critic and theorist. His extensive body of work delves deeply into the relationship between literature, ideology, and aesthetics, often through a Marxist lens. Eagleton meticulously examines how literary texts are shaped by social and political forces, and in turn, how these texts influence our understanding of the world. His approach is noted for its intellectual rigor, yet remains accessible, making him a pivotal figure in contemporary literary theory.
Exploring the ideas of a pivotal twentieth-century thinker, this classic study delves into the profound impact of socialism on modern thought. The author, a renowned socialist critic, examines the intellectual legacy and contributions of this influential figure, highlighting key themes and concepts that shaped political discourse. Through insightful analysis, the book reveals the complexities of the thinker's philosophy and its relevance to contemporary issues, making it a vital read for those interested in political theory and social critique.
A clear-sighted and entertaining defence of literary realism, and an account of its key practitioners Realist fiction is one of the most enduring artforms history has ever witnessed. By describing the intricate inner life of its characters, or widening its focus to set their experience in context, it can evoke the reader's sympathies as few other forms can. Yet it is also by and large a product of the middle classes: boldly individualist and fascinated by money, property, marriage, and inheritance. Can such realism survive in the postmodern age? Acclaimed critic Terry Eagleton explores realism's complex history, practice, and politics. Spanning several centuries, and including writers such as George Eliot, D. H. Lawrence, and Iris Murdoch, Eagleton offers a witty, entertaining defence of a form which offers both panoramic scope and individual nuance in an increasingly fragmented world.
For Marx, freedom entailed release from commercial labour - 'we are free when, like artists, we produce without the goad of physical necessity.' In this highly engaging account, Eagleton outlines the relationship between production, labour and ownership which lie at the core of Marx's thinking. Marx's utopia was a place in which labour is increasingly automated, emancipating the wealth of sensuous individual development so that 'savouring a peach [is an aspect] of our self-actualisation as much as building dams or churning out coat-hangers'. Combing extracts from Marx's revolutionary philosophy, along with insightful analysis, this is the perfect guide to one of the world's greatest thinkers.
A compelling guide to the fundamental place of humour and comedy within Western culture—by one of its greatest exponentsWritten by an acknowledged master of comedy, this study reflects on the nature of humour and the functions it serves. Why do we laugh? What are we to make of the sheer variety of laughter, from braying and cackling to sniggering and chortling? Is humour subversive, or can it defuse dissent? Can we define wit? Packed with illuminating ideas and a good many excellent jokes, the book critically examines various well-known theories of humour, including the idea that it springs from incongruity and the view that it reflects a mildly sadistic form of superiority to others. Drawing on a wide range of literary and philosophical sources, Terry Eagleton moves from Aristotle and Aquinas to Hobbes, Freud, and Bakhtin, looking in particular at the psychoanalytical mechanisms underlying humour and its social and political evolution over the centuries.
A trenchant analysis of sacrifice as the foundation of the modern, as well as
the ancient, social order The modern conception of sacrifice is at once cast
as a victory of self-discipline over desire and condescended to as destructive
and archaic abnegation. But even in the Old Testament, the dual natures of
sacrifice, embodying both ritual slaughter and moral rectitude, were at odds.
In this analysis, Terry Eagleton makes a compelling argument that the idea of
sacrifice has long been misunderstood. Pursuing the complex lineage of
sacrifice in a lyrical discourse, Eagleton focuses on the Old and New
Testaments, offering a virtuosic analysis of the crucifixion, while drawing
together a host of philosophers, theologians, and texts-from Hegel, Nietzsche,
and Derrida to the Aeneid and The Wings of the Dove. Brilliant meditations on
death and eros, Shakespeare and St. Paul, irony and hybridity explore the
meaning of sacrifice in modernity, casting off misperceptions of barbarity to
reconnect the radical idea to politics and revolution.
In a controversial book that is sure to spark debate, the author argues for the relevancy of Marxism, rebutting the 10 most common objections to the political thought system and explaining the advantages Marxism has over capitalism.
A brilliant introduction to the philosophical concept of materialism and its relevance to contemporary science and cultureIn this eye-opening, intellectually stimulating appreciation of a fascinating school of philosophy, Terry Eagleton makes a powerful argument that materialism is at the center of today’s important scientific and cultural as well as philosophical debates. The author reveals entirely fresh ways of considering the values and beliefs of three very different materialists—Marx, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein—drawing striking comparisons between their philosophies while reflecting on a wide array of topics, from ideology and history to language, ethics, and the aesthetic. Cogently demonstrating how it is our bodies and corporeal activity that make thought and consciousness possible, Eagleton’s book is a valuable exposition on philosophic thought that strikes to the heart of how we think about ourselves and live in the world.
One of our most brilliant minds offers a sweeping intellectual history that argues for the reclamation of culture's value Culture is a defining aspect of what it means to be human. Defining culture and pinpointing its role in our lives is not, however, so straightforward. Terry Eagleton, one of our foremost literary and cultural critics, is uniquely poised to take on the challenge. In this keenly analytical and acerbically funny book, he explores how culture and our conceptualizations of it have evolved over the last two centuries--from rarified sphere to humble practices, and from a bulwark against industrialism's encroaches to present-day capitalism's most profitable export. Ranging over art and literature as well as philosophy and anthropology, and major but somewhat "unfashionable" thinkers like Johann Gottfried Herder and Edmund Burke as well as T. S. Eliot, Matthew Arnold, Raymond Williams, and Oscar Wilde, Eagleton provides a cogent overview of culture set firmly in its historical and theoretical contexts, illuminating its collusion with colonialism, nationalism, the decline of religion, and the rise of and rule over the "uncultured" masses. Eagleton also examines culture today, lambasting the commodification and co-option of a force that, properly understood, is a vital means for us to cultivate and enrich our social lives, and can even provide the impetus to transform civil society.
