Poststructuralism changes the way we understand the relations between human beings, their culture, and the world. Following a brief account of the ...
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Jan 07, 2012
Sam
rated it: 
I wanted to read this book to help me build a framework to understand the vague outlines of post-structuralism which I can hopefully fill in later as I read the actual theorist. The book starts with Saussure and a brief summary of structuralism. From there it proceeds to give brief summaries of a whole range of theorist:
Althusser, Barthes, Derrida, Foucault, Kristeva, Lacan, Levi-strauss, Lyotard and even Zizek.
There was a heavy emphasis on Psychoanalysis and Lit theory which wa More...
Althusser, Barthes, Derrida, Foucault, Kristeva, Lacan, Levi-strauss, Lyotard and even Zizek.
There was a heavy emphasis on Psychoanalysis and Lit theory which wa More...
Oct 14, 2011
Deniz Cem
rated it: 
"Is the author talking about linguistics now? Or politics? Or metaphysics? Oh wait, it's popular culture. No, it's ethics! Or is it psychoanalysis? Art theory? Anthropology? Or just literary critism?"
Normally I love multi-tasking authors and theories-of-everything, but when I go through the above in just two pages, I know there's a problem there. And yet this is exactly what I feel when I read poststructuralism-related authors. (No, most of them don't like to be called " More...
Normally I love multi-tasking authors and theories-of-everything, but when I go through the above in just two pages, I know there's a problem there. And yet this is exactly what I feel when I read poststructuralism-related authors. (No, most of them don't like to be called " More...
Apr 03, 2011
Nick
rated it: 
This was a silly book. I've read five books in the "Very short Introduction" series so far, and they've often been very short on quality -- with 'Post-structuralism' being an extreme example. The bits of Foucault were alright, but all this book managed to tell me was that 'post-structuralism' is an inane discipline invented to give more jobs to academics, which functions through esoteric language similar to 'lawyer-speak,' and which, similar to the law profession, without such needless
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Jun 30, 2011
Kathleen
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pretty great introduction to the basic ideas that are common to those theorists often referred to as poststructuralists. my only real issue with this book is the lack of a bibliography. there is a 'references' section followed by a 'further reading' section--but these aren't as helpful, in my opinion, as a bibliography that lists each of the texts discussed, even if they aren't cited.
would be a great book to have undergrads read before trying to get them into foucault. another great one More...
would be a great book to have undergrads read before trying to get them into foucault. another great one More...
Jun 15, 2011
Valie
rated it:
Good basic introduction (or repetition) of some of poststructuralist's main thinkers. Of course one can't give a complete overview in 120 pages and there is some dumbing down going on. I think I would have had more difficulties if I haven't been already familiar with a lot of concepts. But as it is it gave me a good reminder and an overview so that I can go into more detail now. It also gives some useful hints regarding further reading. All in all it was what I expected when I bought the book: a
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Feb 16, 2009
Jimmie
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Poststructuralism is entirely too difficult a subject to benefit from a very short introduction. While this particular series can be very useful for certain movements, ideas, belief systems or historical periods, I think, for poststructuralism, brevity sacrifices far too much clarity. Several times, I found myself spending three, four, five minutes trying to unpack a single dense sentence. Also, the author presupposes that the reader has a more than rudimentary grasp of philosophy, psychology
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Oct 18, 2009
Leif
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Well, its a good try at explaining many of the concepts, and it gives a somewhat satisfactory account of the very major thinkers. However I cannot help but have many reservations about certain points she skims over. I do appreciate her attempt to make a tough subject readable - and I felt it was, overall, a positive read.
Oct 26, 2010
Draco3seven
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Belsey, does a decent overview tying relationships together, but is rather weak in the end... i.e. she talks about how Derrida was trying to develop a post-structural ethics... but then says nothing about how they would function, other than that they would not appeal to God (continually pathetic explanations for sweeping claims fill this book)... at another point she talks about going beyond "metaphysics", but seems not understand the meaning and impossibility of that very statement.
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Sep 29, 2009
Signifiers and subjects. Ideology and dissent. Derrida and Barthes and all those fun folks it's so difficult to read, but whose ideas now permeate our discourse like Freud's. An excellent, readable introduction.
Feb 28, 2010
Uh, yeah, I took a lot of upper level courses on this in college; but my grasp then was weak, and is much fuzzier now, and when I flipped through this in the bookstore the writing was wonderfully clear.
Feb 18, 2010
sarah
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This is a really quick, elucidating read into poststructuralist theory. It left me feeling like I have an adequate hold on the general theories of Saussure, Lacan, Lyotard etc., and definitely left me wanting to their works.
Mar 14, 2010
DoctorM
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Excellent intro to poststructural thought, complete with clear and vivid illustrations and witty explanations. A very good, straightfoward place to start if you're interested in poststructuralism.
Aug 20, 2011
Daryl
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Good, concise, comprehensive for what it is. Belsey manages to make the theory-laden, complicated world of Poststructuralism really quite accessible!
Dec 16, 2009
Zahreen
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This book, despite it's size, took me quite some time to read, because I had to read quite a bit of it over again (and over again) to fully understand some of the concepts presented. It is definitely a great introduction to poststructuralism - I really enjoy reading these intro books for complex topics like poststructuralism, and this book is one of the better ones I have read. It is not summer reading though...
Apr 26, 2009
Patrick
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If you are looking for clarity, inasmuch as poststructuralism can be clarified, this is the book to read. It is more an exercise in reading poststructuralism than anything else--overall fun, and fascinated, and not at all difficult to read or comprehend if you already have some familiarity with some of the jargon and key ideas.
Oct 18, 2010
Despite its promise to be a lucid and quick read, it's really not either. I find myself having to reread lots of the material. Now, that's not a bad thing, especially with the density of the subject matter and my complete ignorance on the topic. I'm very engaged, though, and it's really giving me some food for thought.
Nov 20, 2009
Alex
rated it:
Belsey offers an overview of poststructuralism that exposes the reader to prominent thinkers and their major claims. The relationships to current art/literature/etc. would benefit from a bit more depth. A quick and satisfying read.
Dec 17, 2008
Ahbritton
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A good introduction to the topics. I found the beginning and end most useful. I say this because the middle seemed to be a little fragmented and semantical... although that could have been the subject matter, or my lack of attentiveness.
Feb 12, 2012
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