Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide

Cultural criticism is a mode of analysis that grew out of Marxist theory. It largely focuses on the relationship between “high” and “low” cultural products in that it treats “low” cultural products (like blockbuster movies or pulp fiction) as worthy of analysis. It assesses the ideologies articulated and enforced by cultural products. Cultural literary analysis often focuses on adaptations of literary works in popular culture, representations of historically marginalized groups in cultural products, and mass-market cultural products such as video games and television.

Deconstructive criticism is closely associated with French philosopher Jacques Derrida (See: Key Figures). Deconstructivists assert that language does not have a concrete, specific meaning. Its meaning is instead highly ambiguous, contingent, and constantly shifting. Language both shapes our understanding of the world and is the vehicle for ideology; therefore, we understand our world through ideological discourses. Deconstructive literary criticism analyzes the ideology expressed by a text as well as how that text expresses the limits of, or undermines, that ideology. For instance, Heart of Darkness contains an ideological critique of colonial practices, but it also expresses colonial beliefs about African people. Often, this uneven oppositional ideological stance is related to the theme of the work.

Ecocriticism is an ideology that values the natural environment and its preservation. It criticizes environmental destruction, particularly when caused by capitalism and big business practices like factory farming. Ecological literary criticism focuses on representations of nature in literary works and how it reflects ecocentric and/or anthropocentric ideologies about nature—that is, if the work centers human responses to nature or if it centers nature as an entity in its own right.

Feminism is an ideology that advocates for equality between people of all genders. Feminists focus on the way that patriarchal ideology, or male supremacy, is perpetuated across all aspects of culture, including economics, language, and family structures. Feminists critique traditional gender roles, such as the notion that a woman must be submissive and men aggressive, as damaging to both men and women. Feminist literary criticism focuses on the depiction of women in literature, the inclusion of women authors in the Western canon, and the way literary works promote or undermine patriarchal ideology. It also addresses how the reception of literary works is shaped by the patriarchy, e.g., how women’s literature has historically been overlooked by male literary critics.

Gay criticism is a mode of analysis that focuses on the concerns and representations of gay people. An important focus of study is analyzing “gay tendencies” in works that have previously only been interpreted through a heteronormative lens. This includes a focus on camp, drag, and other expressions of gay masculinities. They also work to identify a body of gay literature, including works by authors who were not openly gay due to the societal pressures of the time.

Lesbian criticism is a mode of analysis that focuses on the concerns and representations of lesbians. An important focus of study is the question of “What is a lesbian?” and how that identity is constituted. Lesbian criticism also analyzes how lesbians are portrayed in literature, including in works that reflect lesbophobic ideology. They also work to identify a body of lesbian literature, including works by authors who were not openly lesbian due to the societal pressures of the time. They analyze existing works to identify lesbian aspects of characters or works that have previously only been interpreted through a heteronormative lens.

Marxism is an ideology that critically analyzes capitalism and its impact on society. Marxists believe that capitalism should be overthrown and replaced with a more egalitarian societal and economic structure. Marxist criticism focuses on the class struggles in society between the capitalist class (those who own the means of production) and the proletarian (working) class. Marxist literary criticism is used to analyze the way literary works promote or undermine capitalist ideology and depictions of class struggle in texts. It also focuses on how literary works are themselves products of the social economic system under which they were created, i.e., as products in their own right.

New criticism is a mode of literary analysis that asserts that a literary text is best understood on its own terms, without any outside reference to the author, the historical background of the work, or any other external factors. New critics believe that the quality of a work can be assessed on the basis of its organic unity, meaning the extent to which its component formal literary elements contribute to its essential theme. In order to be a definitively “great work,” the theme should have “universal human significance” (133). New critics use the method of “close reading,” or using elements of the text to support their claims about the text, to analyze texts. Although new critical theory has largely been abandoned, close reading remains an important element of contemporary literary analysis.

New historical criticism is a mode of analysis that assesses the way events have been articulated and interpreted over time to create historical narratives. New historicists study the way ideology and culture are both represented in, and shaped by, written texts about historical events. For example, they might analyze how a biography of George Washington written in the 1950s reflects concerns about the Cold War at that time. New historical literary analysis focuses on how the literary work interacts with “a particular belief prevalent at the time and place the work was written” and its reception history (258).

Postcolonialism is an ideology that critiques colonialism and its legacy in the world. It focuses on the way that colonial ideology was enforced and articulated through education, literature, and cultural products. It also addresses modes of resistance to colonial practices. Postcolonial literary criticism focuses on the ways literary works reinforce or undermine colonial ideology, representations of colonized people in literary texts, and works written by people from postcolonial communities.

Psychoanalytic criticism is a mode of analysis that assesses psychological dynamics of people, relationships, and literary works. A core concept is the idea that people are motivated to act based on unconscious desires, fears, needs, and conflicts that are largely shaped in childhood and reflect family dynamics. Anxiety is produced when these unconscious fears are activated. Defense mechanisms like denial, avoidance, and projection are deployed to protect the ego from anxiety. In literary analysis, psychoanalytic criticism can be used to analyze the psychological dynamics represented in the relationships between the characters and their internal mental states.

Queer criticism is a mode of analysis that focuses on representations of spectrums of sexuality and gender. It problematizes gender binaries (male/female), as well as conventional understandings of lesbian/gay identity. Queer literary criticism includes assessment of queer poetics, or specifically queer modes of communication and formal literary elements, such as literary devices, writing styles, etc. Like lesbian and gay criticism, it works to identify a body of queer literature.

Reader-response criticism is a mode of literary analysis that assesses the way readers create meaning while reading literary texts and the way texts guide the creation of that meaning. Reader-response critics use a variety of approaches, such as transactional reader-response theory, which assesses the way the “interaction between the literary text and the reader creates meaning” (166), and subjective reader-response theory, which asserts that the expectations and experiences of a reader will shape the meaning they derive from a work. Often, rather than analyzing the work itself, reader-response criticism analyzes how readers understand and respond to the work, such as critical essays or student analysis.