"Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis."
Overview of key concepts and debates in literary theory relevant to Comparative Literature, such as structuralism, poststructuralism, psychoanalysis, feminism, and postmodernism.
Formalism: Focuses on the literary text as a self-contained work of art, and emphasizes the technical aspects of literature, such as form, structure, and language.
Structuralism: Examines the underlying structures of language, culture, and society that shape the interpretation of literary texts.
Post-structuralism: Challenges the binaries and hierarchies that underpin traditional literary analysis, and emphasizes the role of language in shaping reality.
Feminism: Analyzes the representation of gender and women in literature, and examines the ways in which gendered power dynamics are perpetuated through narrative.
Marxism: Looks at the relationship between literature and social class, and explores the ways in which literature reflects and reinforces economic and political systems.
Psychoanalysis: Examines the psychological dimensions of literary works, and explores the unconscious motivations of characters and authors.
Post-colonialism: Looks at the politics of colonialism and imperialism, and examines the ways in which literature can both reinforce and challenge dominant cultural narratives.
Reader-response theory: Examines the role of the reader in creating meaning from a literary work, and explores the ways in which individual interpretation shapes literary analysis.
Cultural studies: Examines the relationships between literature, culture, and society, and explores the ways in which literary texts shape and are shaped by cultural contexts.
Ecocriticism: Focuses on the relationship between literature and the natural world, and explores the ways in which environmental issues are represented in literary works.
Queer theory: Examines the representation of sexuality and gender identity in literature, and explores the ways in which literature can challenge normative understandings of sexuality and gender.
Aesthetic theory: Examines the nature of beauty and artistic experience, and explores the ways in which literature can create emotional and intellectual responses in readers.
Marxist literary theory: Focus on the relationship between literature and the socioeconomic conditions of a society by analysing power structures, social classes, and economic systems.
Feminist literary theory: Explores representations of gender and sexuality in literature, often emphasising the roles and experiences of women writers.
Postcolonial literary theory: Analyses the effects of colonialism, imperialism, and globalisation on literature and culture.
Cultural studies: Looks at how culture is constructed and the relationship between texts and the wider cultural context in which they are created.
Psychoanalytic literary theory: Examines how unconscious desires, repressed emotions, and psychological conflicts influence literary texts.
Structuralism and semiotics: Focuses on the underlying structures and systems of meaning in literary texts, as well as the way that signs and symbols are used to construct meaning.
Formalism: Emphasises the importance of the formal elements of literature such as structure, language, and style, rather than the historical or political context in which they were produced.
Reader-response theory: Looks at how readers interpret and respond to literary texts, as well as the role of the reader in shaping the meaning of a text.
Queer theory: Examines representations and experiences of gender and sexuality as fluid, diverse identities and the ways in which they interact with oppressive power structures.
Deconstruction: Questions the fixed meanings and binary concepts in language and literature, and reveals the underlying hierarchies of meaning and power that are present in texts.
"Literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, moral philosophy, social philosophy, and interdisciplinary themes relevant to how people interpret meaning."
"Since the 19th century..."
"...post-structuralism."
"...strands of semiotics, cultural studies, philosophy of language, and continental philosophy."
"The nature of literature."
"The methods for literary analysis."
"Intellectual history, moral philosophy, social philosophy, and interdisciplinary themes relevant to how people interpret meaning."
"Literary scholarship in the humanities in modern academia is an offshoot of post-structuralism."
"Scholarly approaches to reading texts... are informed by strands of semiotics, cultural studies, philosophy of language, and continental philosophy."
"The word theory..."
"Scholarly approaches to reading texts..."
"To study the nature of literature and methods for literary analysis."
"Intellectual history, moral philosophy, social philosophy..."
"Semiotics, cultural studies, philosophy of language, continental philosophy..."
"Its roots date back to the 19th century."
"Intellectual history, moral philosophy, social philosophy..."
"Post-structuralism and strands of semiotics, cultural studies, philosophy of language, and continental philosophy."
"It has become an offshoot of post-structuralism."
"The humanities in modern academia..."