Since the 1960s, a number of schools or approaches to literary analysis have emerged. Some of the sources you discover may seem to obviously derive from one of the following traditions. Others may be indirectly influenced by one or more of these approaches:

Biographical

A biographical approach begins by considering that relevant details about the human author are important to unpacking any literary text. However, careful consideration must be given to choosing highly relevant details about an author to show clear connections between details about that person’s life experiences (or personality) and the literary work.

Formalist

Formalist, or New Criticism, analysis prioritizes close reading based solely on the text itself, its language, structure, symbols, and themes, and eschews interpretation based on the influence of outside information (such as personal history of the author, for example).

Historical

A historical approach to literature looks at how a work was regarded during a particular period, like the Enlightenment era (with philosophers like John Locke or David Hume) with, say, an emphasis on clear and concise language as opposed to metaphorical terms, or Realism, which called for realistic depictions of people and events as opposed to romanticized or mystical images. Historical analyses may want to trace the impact of a work on its original readers, to look at words in the text whose meanings have changed across time, or to make implicit connections to events occurring at or before the time the author was writing.

New Historicist

New Historicist analysis values the particulars of the time period and location in which the author created the text, as well as any influencing circumstances of the author’s life.

Psychoanalytic

Psychoanalytic, or psycholinguistic, analysis emphasizes the interpretation of characters’ mental and emotional states, narrative point-of-view, the unconscious potency of symbol and imagery, and/or the psychological implications of linguistic pattern, tone, and word usage.

Feminist

Feminist analysis examines the text through the lens of women’s experiences and may also consider factors in the publishing or critical reception of the work when influenced by gender norms.

Marxist

Marxist analysis addresses the text as a material product of the society from which it emerged, with particular attention to socio-economic issues.

Disability

The field of Disability studies, which emerged in the mid twentieth century alongside the disability rights movement, challenges notions of ableism, the so-called “normal” body, and disability, looking at models of disability within the medical community and in society at large.

Ecocriticism

Ecocriticism arose in the 1960s in response to global and local environmental issues; it looks particularly at the impact of human activity on the environment, with the understanding that all forms of life are interconnected and that an anthropocentric approach is insufficient when considering the threats to life on Earth and to the natural features that provide an environment for Earth’s life forms.

Postcolonial

Postcolonial criticism investigates the impact of the Western colonial system on countries and peoples around the globe, with particular attention paid to rethinking and reclaiming the histories of subjugated peoples and their reclaiming of political, economic, and cultural agency.

Queer

Queer analysis reads the text with strong consideration of “queer” identity and/or “queering” of characters, actions, and/or speech; for example, the cross-dressing and gender switching that occurs in some of Shakespeare’s plays can take on more significance than mere dramatic convention.

Reader-Response

Reader-Response analysis seeks to reveal the activity of the reader as contributing to — even completing — the meaning of the text by applying his or her own experiences, perspectives and cultural values; this approach is not done personally, but in consideration of “the reader” as a type or a social category.

Attention to Intersectionality

Today, many literary scholars engage in the practice of intersectionality, that is the attention to the complexity of how cultural views and traditions often fall into more than one category. For example, while we might gain a great deal by interpreting a short story through a psychoanalytic lens, focusing only on this approach may foreclose the possibilities for our analysis to become as deeply grounded in formalist analysis, or may offer only a passing look at historical issues.

Analytical writers should not base their essays on a particular approach simply for the sake of following that school of thought, but rather to further their understanding of, and appreciation for, the literature in question, as well as the clarity of the interpretation offered. Often hybrid approaches, approaches that combine aspects of two or more of these analytical traditions, are very successful, so long as the thesis remains focused and the support specific and well-documented. As ever, consult with your professor about the specifics of your analytical project and the particular expectations they may have for a given assignment.

Continue Reading: 24.3 Theoretical Questions to Consider