Literary TheoryPragmatic AnalysisPhilosophy Of HistoryRhetoricLiterary CriticismNoble SavageDiscourse AnalysisLanguage StudiesInteractional LinguisticsLiterary StudyEnlightenment HistoryPragmaticsPhilosophy Of LanguageLiterary HistoryDiscourse StructureWild ManHistorical ReassessmentLinguisticsModernity
Tropics of Discourse develops White's ideas on interpretation in history, on the relationship between history and the novel, and on history and historicism. Vico, Croce, Derrida, and Foucault are among the figures he assesses in this work, which also offers original interpretations of a number of literary themes, including the Wild Man and the Noble Savage. White's commentary ranges from a reappraisal of Enlightenment history to a reflective summary of the current state of literary criticism.