In recent years, the application of linguistic theory to literary studies has produced a wealth of exciting new perspectives on literature--precise analytic methods of linguistics have aided in practical criticism, while the theory of language itself has shed new light on literary theory as a whole. Linguistic Criticism is an introduction to the subject by one of its most knowledgeable practitioners. In this work, Roger Fowler clearly and simply discusses a variety of analytic techniques whose relevance for fiction, poetry and drama he demonstrates with reference to a wide variety of texts.