Demonising Disney is nothing new. Disney films have long been synonymous with a certain conservative, patriarchal, heterosexual ideology, occupying a centre-stage position at the heart of the evil empire. Deconstructing Disney takes issue with knee-jerk polarities, overturning classical oppositions and recognising that, just as the Disney 'text' has changed, so too must the terms of critical engagement. This book is a sharply focused deconstruction of the political culture -- and the cultural politics -- of the Disney canon in the years since the emergence of the so-called New World Order....

This collection of essays thinks through deconstruction's relation to politics by explicating the text of Derrida in relation to political examples. Neither 'deconstruction' nor 'reading' nor 'politics' is left untouched in the encounters explored in this volume, dispelling the notion of a separation of deconstruction from the everyday.

Theorizing Muriel Spark is the first serious attempt to engage the writing of Muriel Spark in a sustained theoretical reading. It has a particular emphasis on gender, psychoanalysis, postcolonial and deconstructive reading strategies. Drawing together a range of significant names in the field of contemporary literature and critical theory (including Judith Roof, Susan Sellers, Bryan Cheyette, Patricia Duncker, Nicholas Royle, Willy Maley, Julian Wolfreys, and Helene Cixous) this collection of essays deals with the full range of Spark's literary output. It concludes with a new interview with...

In these essays, a range of leading scholars seek both to investigate the historical, institutional and philosophical origins of deconstruction and to think through the problem of the idea of origin itself.

Jacques Derrida has had a huge influence on contemporary political theory and political philosophy. Derrida's thinking has inspired Slavoj Zizek, Richard Rorty, Ernesto Laclau, Judith Butler and many more contemporary theorists. This book brings together a first class line up of Derrida scholars to develop a deconstructive approach to politics. Deconstruction examines the internal logic of any given text or discourse. It helps us analyse the contradictions inherent in all schools of thought, and as such it has proved revolutionary in political analysis, particularly ideology critique. This...

The Narrative Reader aims to provide a comprehensive survey of narrative theories ranging from Plato to Post-Structuralism. The selection of texts is bold and broad, demonstrating the extent to which narrative permeates the entire field of literature and culture. It shows the ways in which narrative crosses disciplines, continents and theoretical perspectives and is a long overdue and welcome addition to the field. The Narrative Reader will fascinate students and researchers alike, providing a much needed point of entry to the increasingly complex field of narrative...

Oxi (Gr. Determiner, lit. No, fig. Resistance, pronounced ochi ) retells Sophocles Antigone through the contemporary Greek crisis and modern European philosophy. A collaboration between the renowned British auteur Ken McMullen and the literary theorist Martin McQuillan, the film draws upon and responds to the importance of the Antigone of modern thought (Hegel, Arendt, Lacan, Derrida, Butler), while coming up close to the politics of the street and the malign effects of the austerity experiment in Greece today. The screenplay weaves together a range of idioms, including performance, fiction,...

Philosophers do it, literary critics do it, even architects, poets, painters do it. It can involve the concepts of capital, politics, and justice. So what, after all, is deconstruction? This title makes an answer to this question available by offering a range of useful texts.

Paul de Man's work is key to the American deconstruction movement and to the so-called political turn in critical theory. Seventeen years after his death, his works continue to arouse violent reactions among critics. This book explains why de Man is such an important voice, detailing his critical position, exploring his intellectual and historical contexts, tracing the influence of his work and enabling readers to undertake independent study of his criticism.

Roland Barthes was one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. In this new book, Martin McQuillan provides students with a fresh and stimulating perspective on Barthes' work, his lasting contribution to the formation of critical cultural studies and his continuing relevance today.