Ten Lessons in Theory: A New Introduction to Theoretical Writing

The first edition of Ten Lessons presented itself as a “literary” introduction to theoretical writing, a strong set of pedagogical prose poems unpacking Lacanian psychoanalysis, continental philosophy, Marxism, cultural studies, feminism, gender studies, and queer theory. The revised, updated, and expanded second edition still argues for theoretical writing as a genre of creative writing, a way of engaging in the art of the sentence, the art of making sentences that make trouble, that desire to make radical changes in very fabrication of social reality. The book still features 10 “lessons,” each based on an axiomatic sentence selected from the canons of theory, each exploring the basic assumptions and motivations of theoretical writing while also providing a glossary of critical keywords. But while each lesson explains the working terms and core tenets of theory, each also attempts to exemplify theory as a “liberatory practice” (bell hooks), to liberate theory as a “practice of creativity” (Foucault) in and of itself. And, with a more urgent emphasis on Afropessimism, critical race theory, and other developments in postcolonial Black cultural production, the second edition of Ten Lessons enacts itself an anti-racist overhaul of the first. In addition, the new edition is designed to serve as a companion text to several other recent Bloomsbury publications: The Bloomsbury Handbook of Literary and Cultural Theory, edited by Jefferey R. di Leo, The Bloomsbury Handbook of 21st Century Feminist Theory, edited by Robin Truth Goodman, and, particularly, Adventures in Theory: A Compact Anthology, edited by Calvin Thomas.

• | Author: Calvin Thomas
• | Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• | Publication Date: Sep 21, 2023
• | Number of Pages: 380 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Hardcover
• | ISBN-10: 1501383957
• | ISBN-13: 9781501383953