This dictionary provides succinct and often witty explanations of 1000 potentially troublesome terms encountered in the study of literature, from absurd to zeugma, from ancient dithyramb to contemporary dub poetry, from the popular bodice-ripper to the aristocratic masque. While it is fully up to date with the terminologies of post-structuralism and other modern schools of literary theory, it offers extensive coverage of traditional drama, versification, rhetoric and literary history. Literary schools and movements from Alexandrianism to transcendentalism are included, along with dozens of terms from languages and literatures other than English. Adjectival forms and other derived words are displayed, and simple pronunciation guides are given for over 200 difficult terms.