"Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis."
The study of the principles of literature and how it functions as an art form.
Literary Canon: The study of the recognized works of literature and their place in cultural and historical contexts.
Narrative Structure: The analysis of the organization and construction of a novel's plot and how it relates to thematic elements.
Genre Theory: The critical examination of the classification and conventions of different types of fiction.
Characterization: The analysis and interpretation of a character's behavior, motivations, and actions within the context of the story.
Point of View: The exploration of the perspective from which a story is told, including the role of the narrator and the use of different narrative voices.
Feminist Theory: The examination of how gender affects the representation of female characters within literature.
Cultural Studies: The analysis of the cultural meaning and representation of literary texts.
Postcolonial Theory: The study of the effects of colonialism and imperialism on literary texts and their representation of marginalized cultures.
Structuralism: The approach that focuses on the formal organization and interrelated systems within a novel's narrative.
Reader-Response Theory: The belief that the reader's interpretation of a novel is equally as important as the intention of the author.
Deconstruction: The critical examination of language's inherent contradictions and the ways in which they subvert the author's intended meaning.
Formalism: An approach that stresses the analysis of the language and structure of a work of literature over its social and cultural context.
Psychoanalysis: The analysis of literature in terms of the human psyche and its unconscious desires and motives.
New Historicism: The study of how literary texts reflect and interact with cultural and historical contexts.
Marxism: The examination of literature through the lens of class struggle and the socioeconomic context in which it was produced.
Reader Response Theory: This theory emphasizes that each reader brings their own life experiences, feelings, memories, and perceptions to the reading of a text. The meaning of a novel, then, is not solely the product of the author's intentions but also the reader's response.
Psychoanalytic Theory: This theory asserts that literature can be interpreted in terms of a psychoanalytical process, which comprises the unconscious and conscious desires, conflicts, and anxieties of the author and/or characters. Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan are two of the most influential psychoanalytic theorists.
Marxist Theory: This theory emphasizes the relationship between power and economy in society, and often seeks to uncover the class and social conflicts involved in the production and consumption of a novel. Marxist theory argues that literature can reveal the oppression of the working class by the ruling class.
Feminist Theory: This theory explores how the patriarchal social structures have shaped literature and cultural productions in general, and argues for the importance of considering women's experiences, achievements, and perspectives in literary criticism. Feminist theorists pay attention to the ways in which female characters and authors are represented and have been historically marginalized.
Postcolonial Theory: This theory examines the literary works that emerge from the aftermath of colonialism, and explores the ways in which the writing and representation of historical events, social and cultural practices have been impacted by colonial power. Postcolonial criticism involves analyzing a work's portrayal of the colonial history, geography, and cultures and argues for the importance of decolonizing literary studies.
Deconstructionist Theory: This theory asserts that literary texts often contain contradictions, ambiguities, and paradoxes, and therefore that language is inherently unstable and without a fixed meaning. Deconstruction critiques the notion of stable meaning and focuses on the ways in which a work deconstructs itself, subverting its own assumed meaning.
New Historicist Theory: This theory argues that literature cannot be understood apart from its historical and cultural contexts. New historicism combines literary criticism and history to analyze literary works alongside historical documents, artifacts, and cultural practices to explore how these cultural phenomena are mutually constituted.
Structuralist Theory: This theory posits that language has a set of rules and pre-existing structures that shape how we make meaning of it. Structuralists analyze the relationships between the elements of a literary work, such as motifs, symbols, and themes.
Queer Theory: This theory explores the ways in which sexuality and gender are constructed in literature and challenges the norms that underlie dominant heteronormative culture. Queer theory looks at how literature can work to disrupt gender roles and social norms.
Ecocritical Theory: This theory stresses the interconnectedness between environmental and social issues and how literature reflects and influences these issues. It aims to highlight the anthropogenic impact on our habitats and examines how literature can reflect on this issue.
"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..."