MTU Library Catalogue

Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

A dictionary of literary terms and literary theory / J.A. Cuddon.

By: Cuddon, J. A. (John Anthony), 1928-.
Contributor(s): Cuddon, J. A. (John Anthony), 1928-. Dictionary of literary terms.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: Oxford [England] ; Cambridge, MA, USA : Blackwell Reference, 1991Edition: 3rd ed.Description: xviii, 1051 p. ; 24 cm.Content type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 0631172149; 9780631172147.Subject(s): Criticism -- Terminology | Literature -- Terminology | Literary form -- Terminology | English language -- Terms and phrases | Literature -- History and criticism -- Theory, etc. -- Terminology | Literary studies: general | Dictionaries | Miscellaneous itemsDDC classification: 803 CUD Summary: Many of the 2000 terms in the new edition have been revised, and there are several hundred new entries. The coverage of the dictionary has been expanded to cover literary theory and the critical developments that have grown up since the first edition of the book was published in 1976.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Barcode
Reference MTU Kerry North Campus Library Reference 803 CUD (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Not for loan 38888000841183
Total holds: 0

Rev. ed. of: A dictionary of literary terms. Rev. ed. 1979.

Many of the 2000 terms in the new edition have been revised, and there are several hundred new entries. The coverage of the dictionary has been expanded to cover literary theory and the critical developments that have grown up since the first edition of the book was published in 1976.

ITT Module WRIT61002

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Cuddon has stiff competition from M.H. Abrams (A Glossary of Literary Terms, 5th ed., 1988); Roger Fowler (A Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms,, 1973); Northrop Frye et al. (Harper Handbook to Literature, CH, Jul'85); and C.H. Holman and W. Harmon (A Handbook to Literature, 5th ed., CH, Mar'87) and Cuddon is not a convincing winner. His scope resembles Frye's or Holman's but is more truly international; coverage of theater and rhetoric beats that of Abrams and Fowler hands down; at 2000+ entries Cuddon easily outweighs Abrams or Fowler and also exceeds Holman or Frye. Cross-references abound, the text is visually friendly, and Cuddon's tone has a certain personal charm. Problems of balance noted about the first edition (CH, Jan'78) remain, however. Worse, Cuddon's writing leaves the unsettling impression of being both sketchy and prolix, burying definitions or general statements in a blur of lists and chronological details or fussing about how difficult a definition is. Entries for "discourse," "modernism," and "postmodernism" provide names and titles but no adequate conceptual framework; "novel" and "pornography" similarly want both focus and a sense of the important social questions that inform scholarly discussion. Compared to Abrams, Cuddon is not as clear or sophisticated; his writing notably lacks the intellectual and expository control that Abrams's notably has. Cuddon's inclusiveness recommends ready reference desk use, but libraries that have Abrams, either Frye or Holman, and a handbook of rhetorical terms will not need Cuddon's dictionary.-R. H. Kieft, Haverford College