What is critical theory, and can it claim to exist as a free-standing entity independent of the object of enquiry? Is the much discussed gulf between Anglo-Saxon empiricism and Continental poststructuralism more apparent than real? In The Myth of Theory Righter explores the nature of thinking about literature, and the assumed polarities between the abstract reasonings of philosophy and the concrete exploratory maneuvers of critical practice. He goes on to examine the role of theory in critical observation, through extended case studies of the work of critics including Barthes, Bloom, Poulet,...

Examines the cultural, historical and moral dislocations at the heart of Henry James' explorations of American identity - between power and love; modernity and history; indeterminate social forms and enduring personal values.