Critical Race Theory
Literary criticism that applies Critical Race Theory, or CRT, is concerned with the ways in which cultural texts challenge or reinforce the economic, political, social and psychological oppression of a racial groups . It studies texts with a consideration of the ways that the text construct and represent race.
At the heart of this mode of interpretation is the consideration of the following core conflict:
These slides contain a broad overview of what critics who apply CRT do. They are good for students who want to remind themselves of this theory's key aspects. However, for a deeper understanding, explore the resources below.
Key Thinkers
W. E. B. Du Bois
Kimberlé Crenshaw
Derrick Bell
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
Key Concepts
Race vs. Ethnicity
Structural Racism
Individual Racism
Internalised Racism
Social construction
Intersectionality and anti-essentialism
Double-Consciousness
Click the image to the left to access the article that we read as a class that explains the core tenants of critical race theory via an interview between a journalist and a professor of literary studies.
Click the image to see some examples of feminist literary criticism in action. Measure your own work against the models on this page to ensure that you are correctly applying this type of criticism.
Click the image to access further resources to help you understand CRT and literary criticism that applies its ideas. On this page, you can find examples of CRT criticism, explainer videos and further reading.