Literature in Contexts

In the 1980s, the study of the study of literary theory eclipsed the study of the literary text. Today we are told we are 'post theory.' Yet as literary text emerged from the shadow of theory, it was eclipsed all over again by the study of context. Historicist contextualization became the dominant orientation in literary studies, and this (not quite) New Historicism spread in turn through period after period. Literature in Contexts seeks to problematize the very notion of context, which has remained stubbornly un-theorized and un-examined. It puts forward a distinction between 'deep' and 'broad' context, and argues that we need to counter the prevalence of the latter if literary studies is to avoid becoming a minor branch of history.