Verena Theile, assistant professor of English, wrote the introduction and co-edited a literary theory volume, titled “New Formalisms and Literary Theory.” The volume, co-edited with Linda Tredennick of Gonzaga University, Spokane, Wash., examines the political motivations of a return to formalism. 

“The collection challenges the conception of New Formalism as an extension of contextual readings and as a ‘mere’ return to aesthetic readings,” Theile wrote. “The essays instead encourage reflection upon New Formalism’s points of intersection with other theoretical approaches and demand a reinstatement of form as the critic’s central focus, form, that is, as it reflects a culture’s creative imagination and historicizes itself within and against a politically charged background.” 

Palgrave Macmillan will publish the volume in May. For more information, visit www.palgrave.com/products/title. aspx?pid=579198.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.