In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures - Hardcover

""In Theory" is an erudite and brilliant work--one of the few books in recent years on politics, and literature, which deserves to be taken completely seriously."--"The Guardian" "A sustained and searching polemic ... A powerful dissenting voice to the two orthodoxies--'Third Worldism' and post-structuralism--which have succeeded each other in misrepresenting, as Ahmad convincingly shows, the nature of the many different literatures and cultures flourishing in Africa and Asia. Because of this vigorously argued claim, Ahmad's voice is one of the most important in the current critical debate."--"Financial Times" "Aijaz Ahmad addresses the work of Frederic Jameson, Edward Said and Marx as a theorist of colonialism ... an important and intermittently brilliant book, 'must' redaing for any students of 'world literature'."--"Choice" "Aijaz Ahmad's "In Theory" is a brilliant polemic which remorselessly undoes some Western illusions about post-colonial societies. Ahmad examines the historical roots of Western Third-Worldism ... His book is a sharp reminder that there is only one world--that of international capitalism--within which some post-colonial nations have needed to struggle and resist more energetically than others."--"Times Literary Supplement"

Dismantles many of the unquestioned premises of contemporary cultural and literary criticism. Ahmad considers major critical figures such as Fredric Jameson, Edward Said and Gayatri Spivak. He also analyzes the concept of Indian literature and the genealogy of the term "Third World" among others.