Archetypal
This recurring character archetype is often the protagonist's enemy, embodying evil and chaos.
What is "the shadow" or "the villain"?
This Marxist term refers to the treatment of people or things as mere commodities for exchange.
What is "commodification"?
In Freudian psychoanalysis, this is the irrational, pleasure-seeking part of the mind.
What is "the id"?
A feminist reading of a text often explores this, questioning whether female characters are silenced or given autonomy.
What is "female agency"?
This theory critiques literature that reflects the power dynamics between colonizers and colonized people.
What is "postcolonialism"?
This archetypal symbol represents temptation and destruction, as seen in stories like Adam and Eve.
What is "the serpent" or "snake"?
Marxist theorists critique this economic system, which focuses on private ownership and profit.
What is "capitalism"?
In psychoanalysis, this part of the mind balances desires and societal norms, mediating between the id and superego.
What is "the ego"?
Feminist critics often explore the portrayal of female characters through this lens, analyzing how they are reduced to their physical appearance or reproductive roles.
What is "objectification"?
Postcolonial theorists examine how colonized people are often constructed as this, an inferior to the colonizers.
What is "the Other"?
This archetypal event involves the fall of a hero due to hubris or a fatal flaw.
What is "the tragic downfall"?
According to Marxist theory, literature often reflects the tensions between these two opposing social classes.
What are "the bourgeoisie and the proletariat"?
According to psychoanalytical theory, dreams can reflect this, a character's hidden desires and repressed emotions.
What is "the unconscious"?
This archetype, often critiqued by feminists, portrays women as temptresses who lead men astray.
What is "the femme fatale"?
In postcolonial theory, this term describes the blending of colonizer and colonized cultures, often leading to new identities.
What is "hybridity"?
In the monomyth, this stage marks the point when the hero leaves their ordinary world to enter an unknown and dangerous realm of adventure.
What is "the call to adventure"?
According to Marxist theory, literature can reflect the need for this, a radical change in societal structures.
What is "revolution"?
According to Freud, this complex involves a son’s unconscious desire for his mother and rivalry with his father.
What is "the Oedipus complex"?
This term refers to the feminist effort to highlight and combat the intersection of race, class, and gender oppressions.
What is "intersectionality"?
Postcolonial theorists often critique this form of imperialism, where the culture and values of the colonizer dominate the colonized.
What is "cultural imperialism"?
This stage of the monomyth involves the hero confronting and overcoming a major obstacle, often symbolizing a personal or external crisis.
What is "the ordeal" or "the abyss"?
This term refers to the process by which individuals in a lower class come to accept and perpetuate the ideology of the ruling class.
What is "false consciousness"?
In psychoanalysis, this defense mechanism occurs when characters bury unacceptable desires or memories in their unconscious.
What is "repression"?
Feminist theorists analyze how power dynamics between men and women are reflected in literature, often focusing on this unequal social structure.
What is "male dominance" or "gender inequality"?
Postcolonial criticism often examines the process through which formerly colonized nations reclaim their identities and cultures, known as this.
What is "decolonization"?