"This collection of essays, many of which were previously available only in German, traces the trajectory of Gumbrecht's scholarship from 1975 to 1990. Gumbrecht is a brilliant theoretician whose work can be read from cover to cover or selectively since his twelve essays treat subjects ranging from the medieval to postmodern eras and include analyses of texts from Latin, French, English, Spanish and German literatures." --Southern Humanities Review

"The translation of these essays by Gumbrecht on literary theory and history marks the appearance in English of one of Europe's most learned, productive, and inventive scholars. Their range is extraordinary. They show that Gumbrecht is not only a sophisticated theorist and historian of literature, but a master practitioner of cultural studies." --Hayden White, University of California, Santa Cruz