Dalam kerangka semantik buku ini secara sistematis membahas berbagai segi kesusastraan, semisal menyangkut kekhususan karya sastera itu sendiri, sistem sastera yang melingkupinya, pengarangnya dan pembacanya.
Literary theory is both renowned and feared for its difficulty. Literary theory is a field that begs for clarification, and it is for reason that I wrote this book. I had taught theory as theory for years when, around 1980, I decided for the first time to incorporate primary works of literature into my theory courses.