The Pleasures of Babel Contemporary American Literature and Theory [Paperback]

The Pleasures of Babelacquaints the layperson and the expert alike with the creative and intellectual achievements of America's multicultural society. Arguing that the present is a great period of writing, Jay Clayton relates novels from the seventies, eighties, and nineties to the latest developments in literary theory. He offers a lucid, cutting-edge look at the often stormy relationship between contemporary literature and criticism. Avoiding theoretical jargon, Clayton systematically sets out to make sense of the critical movements of the last two decades: deconstruction, psychoanalysis, minority writing, multiculturalism, and feminism. In the course of clarifying the accomplishments of Barthes, Kristeva, Lyotard, Said, and others, the author discusses some of America's most prominent writers of fiction: Saul Bellow, Sandra Cisneros, E.L. Doctorow, Toni Morrison, and many others. The result successfully weds a layperson's guide to recent criticism with a scholarly application of that criticism to the very works it concerns. In light of the current debates being waged over the canon and multiculturalism,The Pleasures of Babelshould prove an indispensable tool for those engaged in the practice of literary criticism, as well as anyone concerned with the way in which narrative interacts with society.

Clear, easily readable, vigorous....A model of scholarship and editing....Highly recommended. --Choice

Great breakdowns by sub-topics within chapters. --Rita Mignacca,SUNY College at Brockport

A superb introduction to issues of borders and margins in American narrative production. It will figure prominently in establishing a new research agenda in US studies. --David William Foster,Arizona State University

Not just a brilliant and lucid account of recent developments in American culture, this book, with its contentious brief for diversity, induces in the reader a kind of intellectuallãé