African American criticism is a wide-ranging collection of forms of critical analysis that is concerned with the well-being and perspectives of African American people. One key mode of analysis is critical race theory, or the assessment of the ways that racism is perpetuated throughout societal practices, including legal practices and social interactions, under white supremacy. African American literary criticism focuses on the analysis of representations of Black people, both in works written by Black Americans and by non-Black authors. It also works to establish an African American body of literature defined in part by its use of African American poetics, or formal literary elements, such as signifying.

Cultural criticism is a mode of analysis that grew out of Marxist theory. It largely focuses on the relationship between “high” and “low” cultural products in that it treats “low” cultural products (like blockbuster movies or pulp fiction) as worthy of analysis. It assesses the ideologies articulated and enforced by cultural products. Cultural literary analysis often focuses on adaptations of literary works in popular culture, representations of historically marginalized groups in cultural products, and mass-market cultural products such as video games and television.