Review of 'Linguistic Perspectives on Literature' Edited by Marvin K. Ching: London, Routledge Kegan Paul, 1980, pp. xvi + 332.

This bulky volume is uneven in many ways, but it contains a wealth of closely printed material which may be referred to with some profit over a considerable time. The main editor, in association with Michael C. Haley and Ronald F. Lunsford, has produced what is intended to be a reader containing a range of papers which shed light both on literature and on literary problems. The predominantly American contributors attempt to define the theoretical relationship between linguistics and literature and to delimit what should be considered to be a linguistic analysis of literature. They then relate their several analyses to current notions as to literary readership and related responses.