Olsen Stein Haugom. The End of Literary Theory

Cambridge University Press, 2008. — viii, 232 pages. — ISBN: 978-0-521-33326-9; ISBN: 978-0-521-06199-5.The essays in this book deal with problems which arise in connection with the appreciation and evaluation of literary works and with problems that arise because there is a practice of writing and reading literary works. Though they were written over a period of more than ten years, the essays are unified by a consistent perspective on theoretical problems and by a consistent scepticism about the possibility of any general theory of literature. But the practice of literature remains and so do the problems connected with it. The need to deal with these problems in a responsible way remains and cannot be ignored.Literary aesthetics and literary practice
Interpretation and intention
Authorial intention
Text and meaning
The 'meaning' of a literary work
Defining a literary work
What is poetics?
On unilluminating criticism
Criticism and appreciation
Value-judgements in criticism
Literature, fiction, and reality. A problematic relationship
Thematic concepts: where philosophy meets literature
Literary theory and literary aesthetics