Literary Theory: Understanding 15 Types of Literary Criticism

Literary theory is a school of thought or style of literary analysis that gives readers a means to critique the ideas and principles of literature. Another term for literary theory is hermeneutics, which applies to the interpretation of a piece of literature. Literary theory examines a cross section of literature from a specific era, geographic location, or from writers of specific backgrounds or identities to draw conclusions about the similarities and differences in similar kinds of literary works.

There are a variety of schools of literary theory, including feminist theory, post-modernist theory, post-structuralist theory, and more. Literary theory helps readers gain a deeper understanding while reading literature by drawing on a critical theory to gain further insight into literary texts.

Literary theory enables a broad appreciation of global literature. Reading a text through the lens of literary theory provides a new perspective to better understand literature, learn more about different authors' intentions, and generally improve the quality of literature for both authors and readers. Literary theory can also influence literature, challenging texts to evolve into new territory.

There are many different schools of theory that give readers a special vocabulary to dissect any given literary text. Here are some of the most significant theories:

1. 1. Practical criticism: This study of literature encourages readers to examine the text without regarding any of the outside context—like the author, the date and place of writing, or any other contextual information that may enlighten the reader.
2. 2. Cultural studies: In direct opposition to practical criticism, cultural theory examines a text within the context of its socio-cultural environment. Cultural critics believe a text should be read entirely through the lens of the text's cultural context.
3. 3. Formalism: Formalism compels readers to judge the artistic merit of literature by examining its formal elements, like language and technical skill. Formalism favors a literary canon of works that exemplify the highest standards of literature, as determined by formalist critics.
4. 4. Reader-response: Reader-response criticism is rooted in the belief that a reader's reaction to or interpretation of a text is as valuable a source of critical study as the text itself.
5. 5. The new criticism: New critics focused on examining the formal and structural elements of literature, as opposed to the emotional or moral elements. Poet T.S. Eliot and critics Cleanth Brooks and John Crowe Ransom pioneered the school of the new criticism.
6. 6. Psychoanalytic criticism: Using Sigmund Freud’s principles of psychoanalysis—like dream interpretation—psychoanalytic criticism looks to the neuroses and psychological states of characters in literature to interpret a text's meaning. Other notable psychoanalytic critics include Jacques Lacan and Julia Kristeva.
7. 7. Marxist theory: Socialist thinker Karl Marx established this branch of literary theory alongside Marxism, his political and sociological ideology. Marxist theory examines literature along the lines of class relations and socialist ideals.
8. 8. Post-modernism: Post-modernist literary criticism emerged in the middle of the twentieth century to reflect the fractured and dissonant experience of twentieth-century life. While there are many competing definitions of postmodernism, it is most commonly understood as rejecting modernist ideas of unified narrative.
9. 9. Post-structuralism: Post-structuralist literary theory abandoned ideas of formal and structural cohesion, questioning any assumed “universal truths” as reliant on the social structure that influenced them. One of the writers who shaped post-structuralist theory is, Roland Barthes—the father of semiotics, or the study of signs and symbols in art.
10. 10. Deconstruction: Proposed by Jacques Derrida, deconstructionists pick apart a text’s ideas or arguments, looking for contradictions that render any singular reading of a text impossible.
11. 11. Postcolonial theory: Postcolonial theory challenges the dominance of Western thought in literature, examining the impacts of colonialism in critical theory. Edward Said's book Orientalism is a foundational text of postcolonial theory.
12. 12. Feminist criticism: As the feminist movement gained steam in the mid-twentieth century, literary critics began looking to gender studies for new modes of literary criticism. One of the earliest proponents of feminist criticism was Virginia Woolf in her seminal essay “A Room of One's Own.” Other notable feminist critics include Elaine Showalter and Hélène Cixous.
13. 13. Queer theory: Queer theory followed feminist theory by further interrogating gender roles in literary studies, particularly through the lens of sexual orientation and gender identity.
14. 14. Critical race theory: Critical race theory emerged during the civil rights movement in the United States. It is primarily concerned with examining the law, criminal justice, and cultural texts through the lens of race. Some leading critics of CRT include Kimberlé Crenshaw and Derrick Bell.
15. 15. Critical disability theory: Critical disability theory is one of a growing number of intersectional fields of critical study. Critical disability theorists believe racist and ableist views go hand-in-hand and seek to examine ableist societal structures.

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