What is critical theory ?

Critical theory is the technique to analysis the text.  Critical theories make us to understand the text in simple manner. With the help of it, we can understand the text in a meaning. Critical theories are like the lenses for the given text. There are some important critical theories like psychoanalysis, Reader response, New criticism, Marxism, Feminism blah blah blah. Let’s come to an example here. Psychoanylis critical theory analysis text in psychologically. It analysis psychology of the character. Likewise Marxism looks at literature from Marxism view.  From Marxism view, we will find class struggle and if we look at feminist we will find sexual discrimination. There are many terminologies in critical theory. One of the most popular is ‘death of the author’. It means there is no role of an author after writing his stuff. Author is dead because he has no effect on that text after writing the text. That’s why critics say that we should not think about author for the interpretation of the text.  And oppose to Dead of the author there is another concept which is called Author intention. In Author intention we should interpret the text according to author intention. There is other term like ’ reading with the grain and reading against the grain’. Reading with the grain means to interpret the text according to author’s view and reading against the grain means to interpret the text to avoid author’s view.