Critical Approaches to Literature

This course introduces students to major critical approaches used in the analysis and interpretation of literary texts, such as formalism, structuralism, psychoanalytic, Marxist, feminist, postcolonial, and reader-response criticism. Students learn the key concepts and assumptions of each approach and apply them to selected poems, short stories, plays, and novels. They develop critical thinking, close reading, and academic writing skills by constructing well-supported interpretations from different theoretical perspectives.