ENGL 201: The Nature of Literary Study

Looking through different lenses

Many times literary critics analyze works of literature from a particular philosophical or literary perspective. This perspective often evolves as a reaction to the political, economic, cultural, educational and artistic climate of a historical period

• These perspectives are referred to as Schools of Literary Criticism and may include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Formalist 
  • Historical
  • Mythological 
  • Gender Studies
  • Deconstructionist
  • Post-Colonial
  • Marxist
  • Biographical
  • Psychological 
  • Sociological
  • Reader Response
  • Cultural Studies
  • Feminist
  • Critical Race Studies

Note:This is not necessarily an exhaustive list. There is ongoing debate as to naming conventions and overlap between the literary schools