Topic 1

Historical

Poems are placed in their historical context to explain not only their allusions and particular use of words, but the conventions and expectations of the times. The approach may be evaluative (i.e. the critic may suggest ways of responding to the poem once the perspective is corrected), or may simply use it as historical data.

Theories of literary criticism

Socialogical

Here the focus is on society as a whole, and critics assess the social factors at work in a poem, which may be everything from the attitudes a writer inherits from his social background to the markets which supported his literary efforts

Cultural / new historism

influenced by structuralist and poststructuralist theories, seeks to reconnect a work with the time period in which it was produced and identify it with the cultural and political movements of the time (Michel Foucault's concept of pistme). New Historicism assumes that every work is a product of the historic moment that created it.

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political

It may be the political movements the poet supported which interest the critic, but more commonly the poem is assessed on political lines: how fairly or effectively it promotes political action or attitudes.

Theories of Literary Criticism

Gender

Gender studies and queer theory explore issues of sexuality, power, and marginalized populations (woman as other) in literature and culture.

post-modernism

Post-structuralism holds that there are many truths, that frameworks must bleed, and that structures must become unstable or decentered. Moreover, post-structuralism is also concerned with the power structures or hegemonies and power and how these elements contribute to and/or maintain structures to enforce hierarchy.