Introduction 1
1. Geneaology 1: Hegel's Plague 21
2. Genealogy 2: The Avant-Garde at Theory's High Tide 47
3. Theory, Science, Technology 93
4. Theory not of Literature but as Literature 117
Conclusion 141
Notes 151
Index 164

In this controversial manifesto, Jean-Michel Rabaté addressescurrent anxieties about the future of literary and cultural theoryand proposes that it still has a crucial role to play.