Critical Theory & Identity: Postcolonial, Feminist, Eco-Critical, Psychoanalytical, Marxist, Gender, and Race Perspectives

Colonization

The physical and ideological takeover of one culture by another.

Postcolonial Identity

The complex identity of individuals who exist between the colonizing and indigenous cultures.

Colonist Ideology

The belief system used to justify colonial domination, often based on claims of cultural superiority.

Eurocentrism

The practice of viewing the world from a European or Western perspective as the universal norm.

Mimicry

The act of the colonized subject imitating the language, dress, and behavior of the colonizer.

Nationalism

A sense of collective identity and pride in one's nation, often central to anti-colonial resistance.

Sexism

Prejudice or discrimination based on sex or gender.

Patriarchy

A social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership and moral authority.

American Gender/Binary System

The social classification of gender into two distinct, opposite forms of masculine and feminine.

Sisterhood

Psychological and political bonding among women based on shared experiences of oppression.

Social Constructionism

The theory that gender roles are learned and socially produced rather than biologically innate.

Biological Essentialism

The belief that 'biological' differences between men and women justify social inequalities.

Inherent Value

The idea that nature has value in and of itself, regardless of its utility to humans.

Biodiversity

The variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Vital Needs

The basic requirements for survival that humans and nature share.

Human Interference

The impact of human activities on natural ecosystems.

Eco-Marxism

A critique of how capitalism exploits both labor and the environment.

Ecocentric -> Anthropocentric

The shift from a nature-centered view to a human-centered view.

Eco-Feminism

A movement that sees a connection between the exploitation of nature and the oppression of women.

Primary Revision

The process by which the mind transforms 'latent' dream thoughts into 'manifest' content.

Fear (Abandonment, Intimacy, Death)

Core psychological anxieties that drive human behavior and defense mechanisms.

Repression

The psychological attempt to direct one's own desires and impulses toward pleasurable instincts by excluding them from consciousness.

Oedipus Complex

A child's unconscious desire for the opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the same-sex parent.

Id, Ego, Superego

The three parts of the psychic apparatus: instinctual trends (Id), realistic part (Ego), and moralizing part (Superego).

Eros & Thanatos

The 'Life Drive' (Eros) and the 'Death Drive' (Thanatos).

Condensation & Displacement

Processes of dream-work where multiple ideas are combined into one (condensation) or an emotion is shifted from one object to another (displacement).

Ideology

A system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory.

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership and the creation of profit.

Bourgeoisie vs. Proletariat

The class struggle between the ruling class (owners) and the working class.

American Dream

The ideology that anyone can achieve success through hard work, often masking systemic inequalities.

Socio-economic Class

A group of people with similar social and economic status.

Social Construction of Gender

The idea that gender is a performance and a social category rather than a biological fact.

Gender Identity and Performance

The way individuals express their gender through actions and behaviors.

Heteronormativity

The belief that heterosexuality is the default or 'normal' sexual orientation.

Intersectionality

The study of overlapping social identities (race, gender, class) and related systems of oppression.

Text Stays the Same (Autonomous/Timeless)

The belief that a literary work is a self-contained object that should be analyzed on its own.

Focus on Formal Elements + Close Reading

Analyzing the literary devices and structure of the text itself.

Death of the Author

The idea that the author's intentions are irrelevant to the meaning of the text.

'The Text Itself'

The primary focus of New Criticism, ignoring outside historical or biographical context.

Internalized Racism

The acceptance by members of stigmatized races of negative messages about their own abilities and intrinsic worth.

White Privilege

Inherent advantages possessed by white people in a society characterized by racial inequality.

Institutionalized Racism

Racism expressed in the practice of social and political institutions.