Readings

Acts of Close Reading in Literary Theory

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by Julian Wolfreys

Edinburgh University Press

Due/Published September 2000, 160 pages, paper

ISBN 0748613528

Through a series of short essays, Readings traces the consideration given to the act of close reading in literary criticism and theory over the last thirty years. Focusing on short passages from a number of critical works, including those by Foucault, Barthes, Lacan, Derrida, Kristeva, Cixous, de Man, and Miller amongst others, the essays enact close readings of the trope of reading - its movements and performances in each of the passages in question - so as to offer a more detailed comprehension of the nature of reading and the ways in which critical thinking has transformed our understanding of what it means to read. Readings addresses the varying rhythms and articulations made possible through the careful tracing of the process of critical reading which literary theory has made available.