Many types of theories fall under the term "critical theory." Below you will find keywords and subject headings for various theories; for a more thorough description of each theory as well as the main theorists for each, see the document in the "Descriptions" box on the right.
| Theory | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Semiotics & Structuralism | sign, signifier, signified, slippage, codes, referent, poeticity, langue/parole |
|
Deconstruction/ |
deconstruction, différance, discourse, simulacrum, simulation, aura, authenticity, marked and unmarked terms, logos, supplement |
| Postmodernism | pop, play, pastiche, appropriation, imitation |
|
Psychoanalysis |
subjectivity, fetish, gaze, primitivism, instinct, degenerate, repression, desire, fantasy, reality-principle, sublimation, metaphor and metonymy, parapraxis, gaze, glance, transposition |
| Feminist theory & Queer theory | gender & sexuality, patriarchy, gaze, heteronormativity |
|
Postcolonial theory |
race, ethnicity, Orientalism, imperialism, essentialism, otherness, absence, authenticity, assimilation, resistance, mimicry, exploitation, reception, subaltern |
| Critical theory subject headings | Critical theory subject headings specific to art |
|---|---|
| Semiotics; Iconicity; Intermediality; Intertextuality; Signs and symbols; Structuralism | Art and philosophy; Difference (philosophy) in art |
| Poststructuralism; Deconstruction | Deconstructivism (architecture) |
| Gaze | Psychoanalysis in art |
| Feminist theory; Gender; Gender identity | Feminism in art; Feminist art criticism |
| Postcolonialism; Race; Identity (philosophical concept) | Identity (philosophical concept) in art; Postcolonialism and the arts; Blacks in art; Multiculturalism in art |
| Homosexuality and philosophy; Queer theory | Art and society |
| Marxist criticism |