Formalist Criticism views literature as art that needs to be considered on its own terms, as a unique form of human knowledge. Particular attention is paid to formal features in texts—style, structure, imagery, tone, and genre.
Biographical Criticism views literature as an art that is deepened and better understood when first one remembers that literature created by human beings, and second knowing the human being(s) that created the art deepens one’s understanding. It is important to note that biographical information should amplify the significance of the text—not overwhelm it with irrelevant biographical information.
Historical Criticism is less concerned with literary significance to present readers of the text but is more interested in understanding the text by recreating the exact meaning and impact it had on its contemporary audience. Historical Criticism may also consider how the meaning of a text has changed over time.
Psychological Criticism has several approaches to literature. One approach is to study the creative process of the author(s). Another approach is to study psychologically the author(s). Another common approach is to psychologically analyze the characters in the texts. All these approaches borrow from psychology which studies how the unconscious mind expresses itself in coded forms and symbols to avoid censorship by the conscience mind.
Mythological Criticism is an interdisciplinary approach that looks for recurrent universal patterns underlying literary texts. It combines insights from anthropology, psychology, history and comparative religion to find common human symbols and experiences. A central pattern and concept is the archetype, a symbol, character, situation or image that evokes a deep universal response.
Sociological Criticism examines literature through cultural, economic and political contexts. It examines the relationships between author and society such as the sociological status of the author or the characters in the text. It also examines the role audience and society has in shaping literature.
Gender Criticism examines how sexual identity and sexual orientation influence the creation and reception of literary texts. It also examines the manner in which an author’s gender and/or sexual orientation influences—consciously or unconsciously—his or her own writing.
Reader-Response Criticism tries to describe what happens in the reader’s mind while reading a text. It considers reading to be a creative process and recognizes and explores the inevitable plurality of individual interpretations.
Deconstructionist Criticism rejects the assumption that language can accurately represent reality; it assumes that language is a fundamentally unstable medium. Since literature is made up of language, the text can have no fixed single meaning. Instead, Deconstructionist Criticism is much more concerned with how language is being used in a text.
Cultural Studies Criticism does not adhere to any single methodology (nor to a consistent set of methodologies) so it is difficult to explain this form of criticism briefly. Cultural Studies also rejects the notion that literature exists in an aesthetic realm separate from ethical and political categories. A chief goal for cultural studies is to understand the nature of social power as reflected in “texts” (texts are not limited to written texts) and dynamic social processes.