Introductory Guide to Critical Theory

Written and designed by Dino Felluga

A useful web link with an alphabetical list of terms and concepts used in the numerous critical theories. Contains sections on Marxism, Postmodernism, Psychoanalysis, New Historicism, Narratology and Gender & Sex. Each section lists definitions for that specific critical theory; for example, under Marxism you can find definitions similar to this:

Commodification: The subordination of both private and public realms to the logic of capitalism. In this logic, such things as friendship, knowledge, women, etc. are understood only in terms of their monetary value. In this way, they are no longer treated as things with intrinsic worth but as commodities. (They are valued, that is, only extrinsically in terms of money.) By this logic, a factory worker can be reconceptualized not as a human being with specific needs that, as humans, we are obliged to provide but as a mere wage debit in a businessman's ledger.

Felluga, Dino. "Terms Used by Marxism." Introductory Guide to Critical Theory. Last updated November 28, 2003. Purdue U. Accessed February 25, 2006.

Here is an example of a Narratology definition:

Narration: Narration refers to the way that a story is told, and so belongs to the level of discourse (although in first-person narration it may be that the narrator also plays a role in the development of the story itself). The different kinds of narration are categorized by each one's primary grammatical stance: either 1) the narrator speaks from within the story and, so, uses "I" to refer to him- or herself (see first-person narration); in other words, the narrator is a character of some sort in the story itself, even if he is only a passive observer; or 2) the narrator speaks from outside the story and never employs the "I" (see third-person narration).
Felluga, Dino. "Terms Used by Narratology and Film Theory." Introductory Guide to Critical Theory. Last updated November 28, 2003. Purdue U. Accessed February 25, 2006.