ENGL 3090: Advanced Writing for English Majors

Think of critical theories like a tool kit. Depending on your chosen work of literature and what research question you'd like to explore, some of these theories will be more useful than others. As you develop your interpretation of your chosen work, try out a couple of different "tools" to determine which one offers the best framework for your analysis.

As you explore and apply different critical theories, think about:

• What is the focus of the critical theory? Is it primarily interested in gender (feminism), class (Marxism), or the structure of a work of literature (deconstructionism, Post-structuralism), etc.? 
• How does the critical theory help you deepen your interpretation of your chosen work? Does it offer historical context (New Historicism, Post-colonialism) or psychological analysis of character development or behavior (psychoanalysis), etc.? 
• What additional questions do the various critical theories ask that can help you further develop your ideas about your chosen work or topic? 

NOTE: Although many critical theories might seem like they only work in certain cases (i.e. that Marxism can only work when you're looking at social class or economics in literature), you can create some really interesting interpretations by using unexpected critical theories in your research. For example, using New Historicism to examine science fiction can produce interesting commentary on societal fears. 

This is not a comprehensive list of critical theories. For additional theories, see the additional resources at the bottom of the page. 

• Deconstructionism/Postmodernism/Post-Structuralism: Questions and challenges existing structures' (language, religion, and other systems) capacity for capturing and conveying meaning. 
• Ecocriticism: Focuses on the relationships between a narrative and/or its characters and the environment. 
• Feminism: Seeks to understand gender roles, expectations, and norms and how those roles/expectations/norms can be disrupted.
• Marxism: Seeks to understand the roles of class and economics on attitudes and behavior.
• New Historicism: Explores how historical/social contexts and works of literature respond to one another.
• Post-Colonialism: Explores power structures, xenophobia, and the long-term effects of oppression and racism. Deprioritizes Western empiricism in favor of Indigenous ways of knowing. 
• Psychoanalytic Theory: Uses psychological concepts and methods to understand character development, behavior, and point of view. 
• Reader-Response Criticism: Focuses on the effects of a narrative (characters, structure, plot, etc.) on an audience and how that audience generates meaning from what it reads.