Literary theory is now perceived by many people as being in crisis, because some of its dominant theoretical assumptions are proving hard to sustain.

From Romanticism to Critical Theory offers a new view of literary theory, seeing it not as a product of the French assimilation of Saussurian linguistics and Russian Formalism into what we term 'deconstruction', but rather as an essential part of modern philosophy which begins with the German Romantic reactions to Kant, the effects of which can be traced through to Heidegger, Benjamin and Adorno.

From Romanticism to Critical Theory argues that key problems in contemporary literary theory are inseparable from the main questions of modern philosophy after Kant.

In addition to offering detailed accounts, based on many untranslated texts, of major positions in German literary theory since the Romantics, this controversial new approach to literary theory makes fascinating and important links between hermeneutics, analytical philosophy and literary theory, and will be a vital point of reference for future work in these areas.