Glossalalia

Book excerpt: Glossalaliais not a conventional glossary or dictionary. Although arranged alphabetically, it is a cutting-edge introduction to the state of theory today. Here 26 newly commissioned "definitions" of theoretical keywords are presented in a playful A-Z format, ranging from "Animality" to "Zero." Leading theorists and critics including J. Hillis Miller, Gayatri Chavkravorty Spivak, Simon Critchley, Ernesto Laclau, and many others provide unusual and insightful interpretations of a range of unexpected terms such as "Zero," "X," and "Yarn." They also reflect with renewed vigor upon such familiar concerns as "Difference," "Jouissance," "Nation," and "Otherness." Like a standard glossary, the volume invites the reader to start almost anywhere. ButGlossala liasteps far beyond the parameters of a standard reference work that is simply "about theory" by encouraging readers to actively engage with and enjoy theory, and to consider the future possibilities of theory in the twenty-firstcentury.