Introduces key concepts in contemporary literary theory to explore the major novels of Sir Walter Scott.

A bestselling author in his own time and long after, Sir Walter Scott was not only a writer of thrilling tales of romance and adventure but also an insightful historical thinker and literary craftsman. Over the last two decades, scholars have come to see him as an important figure in Romantic-period literature, Scottish literature and the development of the historical novel. Walter Scott and Contemporary Theory builds on this renewed appreciation of Scott's importance by viewing his most significant novels - from Waverley and Rob Royto Ivanhoe,Redgauntlet, and beyond - through the lens of contemporary critical theory. By juxtaposing pairings of Scott's early and later novels with major contemporary theoretical concepts and the work of such thinkers as Alain Badiou, Judith Butler, Jacques Derrida and Slavoj Žižek, this book uses theory to illuminate the complexities of Scott's fictions, while simultaneously using Scott's fictions to explain and explore the state of contemporary theory.

"The book succeeds in providing accessible introductions to a range of theorists and fiction . . . Among its high points is an insightful analysis of three great but little known short stories: 'The Highland Mother', 'The Two Drovers' and 'The Surgeon's Daughter' . . . Informative and engagingly well-written." - Scottish Literary Studies

"In Walter Scott and Contemporary Theory Evan Gottlieb makes a very persuasive case for the suitability of Scott’s novels as texts to be read, productively and flexibly, through various theoretical perspectives ... [He] provides a wide theoretical framework throughout." - The Year's Work in English Studies

"At the outset, Gottlieb states that his aim is to provide readers with a ‘greater understanding of the complexities and pleasures of both the Waverley Novels and contemporary theory’. Thanks to the persuasive arguments presented in this study, and the sheer energy and enthusiasm that Gottlieb brings to his subject matter, this goal must be easily realised. Not only does Gottlieb have something genuinely new to offer both Scott scholars and contemporary theorists, his palpable enthusiasm for his subject makes this study a joy to engage with." - The BARS Review