Literature as Meaning

by Wendy Steiner

Using contemporary themes, culturally and historically diverse selections, and thought-provoking questions that illuminate key literary concepts, this brief, thematic anthology invites readers to explore vital human issues raised by various genres of the written word. Acclaimed author Wendy Steiner masterfully addresses a variety of approaches to exploring literature, including close readings of literary texts, a social issues-based approach (e.g. gender identity and war), and an introduction to literature as a discipline (genre, canon, metaphor, etc.).

Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

Reviews

[Michael]

[UPDATE 2011: THIS BOOK IS NOW OUT OF PRINT. I am sad...it was an excellent title for my Intro to Literary Studies course -- I hope it gets reissued and updated in the future, because it had a wonderfully adaptable approach to themes.]

I'm teaching this reader in my Spring 2009 Intro to Literary Studies course at Seton Hill University. It covers a lot of neat clusters of stories/poems/plays by themes in literary history (for example, there's a section on "Food and the Kitchen" in literature). Good book to survey lit as a way of examining how meanings are constructed.