Research Guides: English Research Guide: Literary Approaches

Literary Approaches

A lot of work in literature and literary studies are grounded in literary and cultural theories. As you'll learn in your courses, it is important to be able to recognize and understand the viewpoint of these theories to help you in both digesting what you read in scholarly texts and in formulating your own literary arguments. This page lists some resources you can use to understand different literary approaches. These resources are not all inclusive, but provide some starting points.

Literary Terms

Companion to Literary Theory

Companion to Literary Theory by David H. Richter (Editor)
Publication Date: 2018
Introduces readers to the modes of literary and cultural study of the previous half century A Companion to Literary Theory is a collection of 36 original essays, all by noted scholars in their field, designed to introduce the modes and ideas of contemporary literary and cultural theory.

Critical Approaches to Literature

Guides to Literary Theory and Criticism

Literary Theory : A Practical Introduction

Literary Theory by Michael Ryan (Editor)
Publication Date: 2017
This book presents a comprehensive introduction to the full range of contemporary approaches to the study of literature and culture, from formalism, structuralism, and historicism to ethnic, gender, and science studies. Introduces to a variety of contemporary approaches to the study of literature and culture.

Library Guides