Synopsis The book offers a systematic and comprehensive account of contemporary literary criticism, theory and practice. It embraces a spectrum of critical writings, and trains the students of literature not only in understanding the basic tenets of the theories but also in familiarizing them as to how these theories can be used as tools in the analysis of a work of art. The contributors to this volume have also made attempts to fill in the gap between theory and practice that would facilitate the readers in objectifying the interpretation of literature and developing their critical competence. Covering the key theoretical approaches in contemporary literary theory, the text includes papers in the light of the latest developments in the field that are essential reading for the students of critical theory, with sections on Postmodernism, Poststructuralism and Deconstruction, Reader Response Criticism, Feminist Literary Theory, Postcolonialism, Canon and Multiculturalism, New-historicism and Eco-criticism. The contributors include Professor Stephen Greenblatt, C.T. Indra, P.C. Kar, Sachidanand Mohanty, Shanthi Sivaraman, B.N. Singh, P. Dhanavel, Pramod K. Nayar, and others. The anthology is a companion volume and a sequel to my Modern Literary criticism: Theory and Practice (2003).