This new edition includes a sizeable body of new material, in addition to the original selection of texts and accompanying editorial commentary. A new section on postcolonialism has been added to reflect the increasing challenge to Western thought and representation. Along with this are examples of the writings of many key figures in the field together with seminal essays that have explored and extended the implications of critical theory. Questions are raised about the compatibility or otherwise of different theoretical models and about their philosophical presuppositions, issues that are likely to continue to be central to literary theoretical debates in the future.