"Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis."
The study of the principles and practices of interpreting and evaluating works of literature.
Structuralism: A methodology that examines language and culture as systems of signs and symbols.
Post-structuralism: A critical movement that explores the limitations and contradictions of structuralist thought.
Marxism: A political and economic theory that examines the relationship between literature and the larger social and economic systems.
Psychoanalytic theory: A methodology that draws on psychoanalysis to explore the unconscious desires, motivations, and conflicts underlying literary texts.
Feminism: An approach that highlights the ways in which gender shapes literary texts and their interpretation.
Queer theory: A methodology that draws on queer studies to explore the ways in which sexuality shapes literary texts and their interpretation.
Postcolonial theory: An approach that examines the ways in which literature reflects and shapes the experience of imperialism, colonization, and cultural identity.
Globalization and culture: Theories that explore the impact of globalization on culture, including literature and the arts.
Cultural studies: A field of inquiry that examines the relationship between culture, power, and representation.
Reader-response theory: A methodology that explores the ways in which readers interpret and make sense of literary texts.
Formalism: A literary theory that focuses on the formal elements of a text, such as language, structure, and style, to understand its meaning.
Structuralism: A literary theory that analyses the underlying structures of a literary work and the interconnections between those structures, including those found in the text and those in cultural and social contexts.
Post-structuralism: An extension of structuralism that takes into account the limitations of language and the multiplicity of meaning it produces.
Psychoanalytic theory: A literary theory that was initially popularized by Sigmund Freud that examines the unconscious mind and its impact on human behavior.
Feminist theory: A literary theory that examines the ways in which gender differences shape our understanding of literature and its reception, often emphasizing the experiences of women and other marginalized groups.
Marxist theory: A literary theory that emphasizes the role of class struggle and economic factors in shaping the production and reception of literature.
Postcolonial theory: A literary theory that examines the relationship between colonizer and colonized, and how this relationship informs literature produced in the postcolonial world.
Ecocriticism: A literary theory that emphasizes the relationship between literature and the natural environment, analyzing texts for their ecological perspective.
New Criticism: A literary theory that focuses on the aesthetic qualities of a work of literature, ignoring the author's intentions or social context in order to analyze the text itself.
Reader-response theory: A literary theory that emphasizes the importance of the reader in interpreting and making meaning from a text.
Deconstruction: A literary theory that emphasizes the instability of language and the impossibility of achieving a stable meaning.
Cultural studies: A interdisciplinary field of study that examines the role of culture in shaping social relations and structures, including literature.
"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..."