This anthology assembles sixteen essays on different aspects of modern criticism, by some of the best scholars from six countries and four continents. The essays, variously, examine a range of theoretical perspectives, point up key issues in the area of postcolonial literary studies, or open up new interdisciplinary perspectives for the future of criticism. Among the critical schools and approaches expounded by the distinguished contributors are Postmodernism, Reader-Response Theory, Postcolonial Theory, Psychoanalytic Criticism, Feminist Criticism and Marxist Criticism. The concluding essays bring the critical debate right up-to-date by suggesting new critical paths for the Internet age. The contributors included such reputed experts, from India and abroad, as T. Ravichandran, Nouri Gana, Prakash Chandra Pradhan, N. Raveendran, Gangadhar Gadgil, Anthonia Kalu, Mala Pandurang, Subhendu Mund, Dámaso Javier Vicente Blanco, and Virgílio Augusto Fernandes Almeida. This rich and diverse volume will prove an invaluable source of reference and stimulus for further thought, for students and scholars alike.

Table of Contents:
Section I 1. Postmodernism’s Linguistic Turn –Christine Jones 2. Teaching a Postmodern Text –T. Ravichandran 3. The Specter of Relativism: A Critical Review of Norman Holland’s Models of Reader-Response –Nouri Gana 4. Irony in Relevance Theory: Recurrent Features, Critical Stances and Possible Research Trends –María Ángeles Ruiz Moneva 5. Towards an Inclusive, Multi-Functional, Sociolinguistic Theory of Stylistics of Fiction –Prakash Chandra Pradhan 6. Language of Drama: A Consideration –N.V. Raveendran 7. The Symbolism of Literature –Gangadhar Gadgil Section II 8. Language, Identity and African Literary Theory –Anthonia C. Kalu 9. The Trajectory of African Critical Discourse in English: An Overview –Mala Pandurang 10. India, Indian, Indianness: Problematising the Indian English Novelist’s Identity –Subhendu Mund 11. Psychoanalysis and Indian Writing in English: Promises and Possibilities –Rajeshwar Mittapalli Section III 12. Introductory Notes on the Application of Art Criticism to Legal Research –Dámaso Javier Vicente Blanco 13. Toward an Exemplary Relationship between the Judge and the Literary Critic –Nouri Gana 14. Feminist Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Male Myths and Fairy Tales via Intertextuality –N. Geetha 15. The Passageways of Paris: Walter Benjamin’s “Arcades Project” and Contemporary Cultural Debate in the West –Christopher Rollason 16. Invisible Natures: On Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities –Virgílio Augusto Fernandes Almeida