Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's methods and goals. Though the two activities are closely related, literary critics are not always, and have not always been, theorists.
Noun 1. a written evaluation of a work of literature (synonym) criticism (hypernym) writing, written material, piece of writing (hyponym) explication de texte 2. the informed analysis and evaluation of literature (synonym) lit crit (hypernym) literary study