Literary Criticism in the 21st Century

Dr. V. Basil Hans

VOl-10,Issue-4,July - August 2025

Author: Dr. V. Basil Hans

Keywords: Digital Humanities, Posthumanism, Decolonial Critique, Eco-criticism, and Identity Politics

Abstract: The 21st century has seen a major change in literary criticism, thanks to new technologies, new ways of thinking, and changes in society and politics. The rise of digital humanities, posthumanism, eco-criticism, and the voices of people from around the world and those who are often ignored are some of the significant themes that are changing the discipline. It looks at how the rise of AI technologies and online platforms has made literary discussion more accessible to everyone and questioned old ways of thinking about criticism. The paper also looks at how identity politics, trauma theory, and decolonial critique have changed literary canons and methods. The paper gives a full picture of how literary criticism is changing, fighting back, and rethinking its place in a culture that is getting more complicated all the time by looking at these dynamic changes.

Article Info: Received: 19 Jun 2025; Received in revised form: 15 Jul 2025; Accepted: 19 Jul 2025; Available online: 22 Jul 2025

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.104.31