Introduction: The Recent History of Theory

Broad reviews on the state of literary theory in the profession are less frequent, and the Executive Committee of the Literary and Cultural Theory Forum (LCT Forum) agreed at its planning session for the 2018 MLA Convention to assess the status of theory by looking at its recent history in the academy and considering the different institutional forces that have defined its trajectory. The translation and publication of theoretical texts in books, journals, and anthologies is of course a key element, and one of the two panels thus centered on "The Book History of Theory." Other questions concern the role played by prominent university departments, institutes, and independent centers, like the School for Criticism and Theory, and these broader institutional factors defined the rubric for the second panel, "The Institutional History of Theory."