Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. Introduction 1
5. THEORY
6. 1. The Literary in Theory 23
7. 2. The Novel and the Nation 43
8. 3. Resisting Theory 73
9. CONCEPTS
10. 4. Text: Its Vicissitudes 99
11. 5. The Sign: Saussure and Derrida on Arbitrariness 117
12. 6. The Performative 137
13. 7. Interpretation: Defending “Overinterpretation” 166
14. 8. Omniscience 183
15. CRITICAL PRACTICES
16. 9. Bad Writing and Good Philosophy 205
17. 10. Writing Criticism 222
18. 11. Doing Cultural Studies 240
19. 12. Comparative Literature, at Last 254
20. Abbreviations and Short Titles 269
21. Sources 271
22. Index 273
23. Cultural Memory in the Present 277