# Teaching > General Teaching >  Methods of literary analysis

## kev67

How many methods are there for analysing literature? Sometimes when I have read a classic book, say Wuthering Heights or Tess of the d'Urbervilles, I buy a book of student notes about it from the internet. They are dirt cheap, and they explain the themes and recap the plot. The books often refer to Marxist analysis or feminist analysis. For example there is a famous book of feminist criticism titled _The Mad Woman in the Attic_ by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, that is often cited. I have also come across the term post-colonial analysis. I take Marxist analysis to mean from a poor person's perspective, while a feminist analysis means from a woman's perspective. I am not sure if a post-colonial analysis means from any non-white person's perspective or just those who come from a country that had been colonised. So, there is Marxist analysis, feminist analysis, post-colonial analysis; are there any others?

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## Lokasenna

There are huge numbers of theoretical approaches to literature, which slip in and out of fashion all the time. You've mentioned three big ones, but there are others that are equally dominant: ecocriticism, queer theory, psychoanalysis... the list goes on. If you're really interested, it might be a good idea to get your hands a book that specifically describes, and contextualises, the different kinds of critical theory - I usually recommend _The Blackwell Guide to Literary Theory_ as a good introductory text.

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## kev67

> There are huge numbers of theoretical approaches to literature, which slip in and out of fashion all the time. You've mentioned three big ones, but there are others that are equally dominant: ecocriticism, queer theory, psychoanalysis... the list goes on. If you're really interested, it might be a good idea to get your hands a book that specifically describes, and contextualises, the different kinds of critical theory - I usually recommend _The Blackwell Guide to Literary Theory_ as a good introductory text.



I have put it on the wishlist. Sixteen approaches!

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## Lokasenna

> I have put it on the wishlist. Sixteen approaches!


Yep, those are the 'basic' ones. And then there's umpteen chapters on the various individuals who've made significant contributions...

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## free

There is artistical analysis, devoid of any other approaches or standpoints to the literature (political, social, feministic etc). It respects and pays attention only to the artistic values of a literature work. I guess, it belongs to the l'art pour l'art theory.

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