Skip to Main Content

Literary Theory: Specific Theories

This guide will give you an overview of the critical literary theories used today.

Structuralism/Semiotics

Formalism

Marxist Criticism

Psychoanalytic Criticism

Reader-Response Criticism

Feminist Criticism

Post-Structuralism/Deconstruction

Gender/Queer Studies

Queer Theory Libguide
There's a whole libguide dedicated to Queer Theory if you'd like to research it in more depth.

New Historicism/Cultural Studies

Critical Race Theory

Race Critical Theories by David Theo Goldberg (Editor); Philomena Essed
Critical Race Theory by Kimberle Crenshaw; Neil Gotanda; Garry Peller; Kendall Thomas (Editor); Cornel West (Foreword by)
Critical Race Theory by Dorothy A. Brown
Critical Race Theory (Third Edition) by Richard Delgado; Jean Stefancic; Angela Harris (Foreword by)
Foundations of Critical Race Theory in Education by Edward Taylor (Editor); David Gillborn (Editor); Gloria Ladson-Billings (Editor)
Critical Race Theory Matters by Margaret Zamudio; Christopher Russell; Jacquelyn L. Bridgeman; Francisco Rios

Postcolonialism Criticism