Ten lessons in theory: an introduction to theoretical writing

An introduction to literary theory unlike any other, 'Ten Lessons in Theory' engages its readers with three fundamental premises.

The first premise is that a genuinely productive understanding of theory depends upon a considerably more sustained encounter with the foundational writings of Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud than any reader is likely to get from the introductions to theory that are currently available.

The second premise involves what Fredric Jameson describes as 'the conviction that of all the writing called theoretical, Lacan's is the richest'.