critical theory en · NOUN
Etymology
Calque of German kritische Theorie, first defined by Max Horkheimer in his 1937 essay “Traditional and Critical Theory”.
Meanings
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(uncountable) The examination and critique of society and literature, drawing from knowledge across social science and the humanities; (in particular) the original ideas developed by the Frankfurt School.
I define critical theory as something broader than Critical Theory in the Frankfurt School usage but not unrelated to it. I use the term to designate the traditions of dialectical and self-reflective thought initiated during the historical moment of Kant and Hegel.
2000, Carl Howard Freedman, Critical Theory and Science Fiction, Wesleyan University Press, →ISBN, page xvi:[…]; if you do not know, or care to know, much about critical theory, the writings of Butler are academic in the unflattering sense of that term. But in their world, they are, if not royalty, lords of the realm.
2018 September 23, Eliot A. Cohen, “The Crisis of the American Elites”, in The Atlantic:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical Theory | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
critical race theory · critical theorist
Meronyms
critical legal studies · critical legal theory · queer theory · technocriticism · thing theory
Translations (6)
pl teoria krytyczna (examination and critique of society and literature) · cmn 批判理論 /批判理论 (examination and critique of society and literature) · de kritische Theorie (examination and critique of society and literature) · fi kriittinen teoria (examination and critique of society and literature) · sv kritisk teori (examination and critique of society and literature) · ga teoiric na critice (examination and critique of society and literature)