What is a literary text? What does it mean to read a text? Who are "we" who read? How does the meaning of a text change in relation to the context in which it is read? What authority does an author have over the reception of a text? How does our gender, class, or ethnicity shape our understanding of texts? The Oxford Encyclopedia of Literary Theory delves into these and the many other questions that arise when we read and write, exploring with an innovative approach and an unprecedented variety of perspectives what literary theory means. Led by Editor in Chief John Frow and Associate Editors Mark Byron, Pelagia Goulimari, Sean Pryor, and Julie Rak, the Encyclopedia illustrates the problems, the concepts, and the methodologies that arise when we discuss literary criticism. Around 180 full-length essays written by international experts discuss the theoretical categories and formal structures; the institutions that support the production, dissemination, interpretation, and valuation of literary texts; the identities of the real and textual persons who interact in the study of texts; and the systematic methodologies of literary interpretation and understanding. Ranging from ancient criticism--Greek and Latin, Chinese, Sanskrit, Arabic, and Biblical--to contemporary issues, including digital humanities, ecocriticism, queer studies, and Indigenous traditions, the Encyclopedia offers the most comprehensive analysis currently available of literary theory in all its many dimensions.