Fundamentals of Literary Criticism Program

The Literary Criticism Basics Program aims to provide trainees with a solid understanding of critical concepts and tools for analyzing texts, whether poetic, narrative, or contemporary. The program serves as a first gateway for anyone wishing to enter the world of literary criticism and develop a conscious critical perspective capable of reading texts deeply.

The program offers a comprehensive curriculum combining theoretical knowledge with practical application, enabling trainees to dissect a text, study its structure, techniques, and symbols, and then reconstruct it critically through an understanding of the text’s cultural and intellectual context. It also provides practical workshops for analyzing Arabic and international literary examples to enhance critical skills.

The program is designed for writers, literature students, culture enthusiasts, and content creators who wish to gain a deeper understanding of texts and develop sound critical readings.

Program Key Points

1 – Introduction to Literary Criticism

• Definition and objectives of literary criticism.
• The development of criticism in Arab and Western history.
• The difference between aesthetic appreciation, impression, and scholarly criticism.

2 – Core Critical Approaches

• Structural criticism and analyzing the internal structure of a text.
• Stylistic criticism and studying language and composition.
• Psychological criticism and its relation to the author’s emotional state.
• Social criticism and the cultural context of the text.

3 – Tools of the Literary Critic

• How to conduct an initial analytical reading of a text.
• Text analysis tools: themes, symbols, characters, time, and language.
• How to connect the text to its cultural and historical context.

Critical Analysis Skills

This section is designed to enhance the trainee’s ability to read literary and intellectual texts deeply and with full awareness. Trainees learn how to break texts down into their fundamental elements, understand symbols, themes, characters, and linguistic styles, and relate them to historical and cultural contexts. It also emphasizes distinguishing between explicit and implicit meanings and evaluating text quality using precise critical standards.

This section provides practical exercises in analyzing poetry, narratives, and contemporary texts, develops critical thinking skills, and teaches how to write clear and sound critical readings. This empowers trainees to develop a comprehensive critical perspective and gives them the confidence to approach any literary or cultural text skillfully and professionally.

• Extracting deep meanings within a text.
• Distinguishing between explicit and implicit meanings.
• Evaluating text quality according to clear critical standards.