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Subfield · Arts and Humanities

Literature and Literary Theory research

Literature and Literary Theory is a subfield of Arts and Humanities. Science Explorer counts 554k research works in it since 1950. 16.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: polysemous term referring to a written art form, and the set of all literary works.

Research works
554k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
89k
per year above
Top-10% rate
16.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
53
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+32%
the tick is no change

What is Literature and Literary Theory research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Literature, Identity, Gender, Globalization, Discourse Analysis, Colonialism. Gaining share since 2009–13: Divan Poetry, Turkish Literature, Cultural Heritage, Autorschaft, Bildung. Losing share: Gender Roles, Children's Literature, Postmodernism, Artistic Expression.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Literature40k◆ 0.91×21 topics
  2. Identity38k◆ 1.01×17 topics
  3. Gender28k◆ 0.92×13 topics
  4. Globalization26k◆ 1.14×6 topics
  5. Discourse Analysis22k◆ 1.10×2 topics
  6. Colonialism21k◆ 0.95×9 topics
  7. Educational Practices18k◆ 1.06×2 topics
  8. History18k◆ 0.92×7 topics
  9. CLIL16k▲ 1.23×1 topic
  10. Content and Language Integrated Learning16k▲ 1.23×1 topic
  11. Culture15k◆ 0.93×5 topics
  12. Feminism14k▼ 0.80×5 topics
  13. Literacy13k▲ 1.30×1 topic
  14. Textual Production13k▲ 1.30×1 topic
  15. Narrative12k◆ 0.96×6 topics
  16. Postcolonialism11k◆ 1.04×8 topics
  17. Cultural Identity9,812▼ 0.86×6 topics
  18. Literary Criticism9,066▼ 0.74×7 topics
  19. Gender Roles8,915▼ 0.68×2 topics
  20. Academic Writing8,643◆ 0.88×1 topic
  21. Critical Discourse8,643◆ 0.88×1 topic
  22. Nationalism8,378◆ 0.98×4 topics
  23. Cultural Heritage8,248▲ 2.6×3 topics
  24. Poetry8,171◆ 0.96×2 topics
  25. Emotion8,051▲ 1.34×2 topics
  26. Memory7,966◆ 0.89×4 topics
  27. Lusophone7,918◆ 1.05×1 topic
  28. Postcolonial7,918◆ 1.05×1 topic
  29. Literary History7,698▼ 0.75×2 topics
  30. Autorschaft7,425▲ 1.49×1 topic
  31. Bildung7,425▲ 1.49×1 topic
  32. Cultural Studies6,984◆ 0.96×5 topics
  33. Children's Literature6,874▼ 0.68×2 topics
  34. Narrative Theory6,730◆ 0.91×3 topics
  35. Divan Poetry6,504▲ 8.1×1 topic
  36. Turkish Literature6,504▲ 8.1×1 topic
  37. Artistic Expression6,486▼ 0.73×2 topics
  38. Empathy6,395▲ 1.26×2 topics
  39. Postmodernism5,842▼ 0.70×5 topics
  40. Autobiography5,550▼ 0.85×2 topics

Which countries lead Literature and Literary Theory research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Literature and Literary Theory. By volume, the United States and Brazil publish the most (15k and 13k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 17.9% top 10% · 15k works
  2. 2 China · #4 all time 24.8% top 10% · 4.9k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 18.5% top 10% · 5.9k works
  4. 4 Germany · #5 all time 11.4% top 10% · 6.6k works
  5. 5 Australia · #3 all time 26.6% top 10% · 1.8k works
  6. 6 Hong Kong · #8 all time 48.5% top 10% · 509 works
  7. 7 Spain · #7 all time 16.2% top 10% · 5.7k works
  8. 8 Türkiye · #14 all time 13.8% top 10% · 7.7k works
  9. 9 Canada · #6 all time 17.8% top 10% · 2.4k works
  10. 10 Indonesia · #22 all time 19.4% top 10% · 3.9k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 63 countries ranked in Literature and Literary Theory. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Literature and Literary Theory

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 15k works
  2. 2 Brazil 13k works
  3. 3 Türkiye 7.7k works
  4. 4 France 6.9k works
  5. 5 Germany 6.6k works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 5.9k works
  7. 7 Spain 5.7k works
  8. 8 China 4.9k works
  9. 9 Indonesia 3.9k works
  10. 10 India 3k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 20.6%Brazil: 18.2%Türkiye: 10.6%France: 9.4%6 others listed: 41.2%21%largest
United States15k · 20.6%Brazil13k · 18.2%Türkiye7,732 · 10.6%France6,873 · 9.4%6 others listed30k · 41.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Literature and Literary Theory research?

University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong) ranks first in Literature and Literary Theory on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Oxford and Education University of Hong Kong.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of Hong Kong Hong Kong · Pok Fu Lam · #2 all time 46.7% top 10% · 104 works
  2. 2 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #5 all time 17.1% top 10% · 352 works
  3. 3 Education University of Hong Kong Hong Kong · Tai Po · #25 all time 67.0% top 10% · 72 works
  4. 4 Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong · Hong Kong · #30 all time 58.9% top 10% · 93 works
  5. 5 University College London United Kingdom · London · #8 all time 25.3% top 10% · 207 works
  6. 6 Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong · Hong Kong · #51 all time 44.8% top 10% · 80 works
  7. 7 University of Amsterdam Netherlands · Amsterdam · #18 all time 34.7% top 10% · 105 works
  8. 8 Michigan State University United States · East Lansing · #3 all time 40.3% top 10% · 101 works
  9. 9 University of Vienna Austria · Vienna · #39 all time 20.9% top 10% · 206 works
  10. 10 Pennsylvania State University United States · State College · #1 all time 27.1% top 10% · 151 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 390 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Literature and Literary Theory.

Top 100 Literature and Literary Theory institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 608 works
  2. 2 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 496 works
  3. 3 Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 417 works
  4. 4 Universidade do Estado do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 379 works
  5. 5 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 352 works
  6. 6 Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)Brazil 337 works
  7. 7 Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrazil 328 works
  8. 8 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulBrazil 319 works
  9. 9 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 317 works
  10. 10 Film IndependentUnited States 305 works

Who are the leading researchers in Literature and Literary Theory?

Among the most productive authors in Literature and Literary Theory, Michel Foucault, Sander L. Gilman and Jacques Derrida rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Michel Foucault Poland · #5 worldwide 4.6k citations · 194 works
  2. 2 Sander L. Gilman United States · #37 worldwide 4.2k citations · 154 works
  3. 3 Jacques Derrida France · #82 worldwide 1.3k citations · 192 works
  4. 4 Peter Burke United States · #136 worldwide 997 citations · 191 works
  5. 5 Karl Marx Denmark · #180 worldwide 1.1k citations · 217 works
  6. 6 Peter Brooks Australia · #319 worldwide 2.2k citations · 187 works
  7. 7 Teun A. van Dijk Spain · #680 worldwide 2.5k citations · 107 works
  8. 8 Fredric Jameson United States · #782 worldwide 1.4k citations · 99 works
  9. 9 Hannah Arendt United States · #1,066 worldwide 1.1k citations · 95 works
  10. 10 Roman Jakobson United States · #1,107 worldwide 708 citations · 148 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,218 highest-output authors in Literature and Literary Theory. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Literature and Literary Theory researchers

Where is Literature and Literary Theory research done?

The largest centres of Literature and Literary Theory research in 2022–2025 are São Paulo (Brazil), Paris (France), Madrid (Spain) and Ankara (Türkiye). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Sulzbach-Rosenberg and Mont-Saint-Aignan.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 São Paulo Brazil 2.1k works
  2. 2 Paris France 2k works
  3. 3 Madrid Spain 1.4k works
  4. 4 Ankara Türkiye 1.3k works
  5. 5 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 1.2k works
  6. 6 Istanbul Türkiye 1.1k works
  7. 7 London United Kingdom 1.1k works
  8. 8 Beijing China 839 works
  9. 9 New York United States 806 works
  10. 10 Moscow Russia 754 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Sulzbach-RosenbergDE · 75.6 works55×
  2. Mont-Saint-Aignan31.6 works17×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Literature and Literary Theory than the world average.

See Literature and Literary Theory on the map

Literature and Literary Theory research by country

The best places for Literature and Literary Theory research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Literature and Literary Theory?

Among universities, judged by research, Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi, University of Macau and Mardin Artuklu University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%25%50%75%mean 25.88%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi: 209, 12.3%University of Macau: 78, 51.7%Mardin Artuklu University: 95, 16.6%Education University of Hong Kong: 72, 67.0%Ca' Foscari University of Venice: 190, 9.3%Universidade do Estado da Bahia: 100, 6.6%Hong Kong Polytechnic University: 93, 58.9%Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University: 193, 14.2%National University of Modern Languages: 64, 14.2%Université Sorbonne Nouvelle: 245, 8.0%Education University…University of MacauMardin Artuklu Unive…Ankara Sosyal Biliml…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Ankara Sosyal Bilimler ÜniversitesiTürkiye 56.212.3%11.6×209 +564.6%
2 University of MacauMacau 53.451.7%2.2×78 +345.3%
3 Mardin Artuklu UniversityTürkiye 51.216.6%9.9×95 +1914.6%
4 Education University of Hong KongHong Kong 50.767.0%4.5×72 -0.7%
5 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 48.19.3%7.2×190 +251.4%
6 Universidade do Estado da BahiaBrazil 47.76.6%10.5×100 +268.7%
7 Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong 47.458.9%1.0×93 +75.2%
8 Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli UniversityTürkiye 47.114.2%12.3×193 —
9 National University of Modern LanguagesPakistan 46.414.2%9.1×64 +499.2%
10 Université Sorbonne NouvelleFrance 46.28.0%18.5×245 +26.0%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Literature and Literary Theory research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 32% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Turkish Literature and Culture, Linguistics and Education Research and Literature, Culture, and Criticism.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Turkish Literature and Culture+932%
  2. Linguistics and Education Research+403%
  3. Literature, Culture, and Criticism+258%
  4. Cultural and Social Studies in Latin America+201%
  5. Media Influence and Health+192%
  6. Comparative Literary Analysis and Criticism+182%
  7. Literary Theory and Cultural Hermeneutics-29%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Literature and Literary Theory include?

Second Language Learning and Teaching: 52k fractional worksLinguistics and Education Research: 39k fractional worksDiscourse Analysis in Language Studies: 33k fractional worksLiterature, Culture, and Criticism: 26k fractional worksGerman Literature and Culture Studies: 25k fractional worksHistorical and Literary Analyses: 23k fractional worksFolklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies: 19k fractional worksShakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism: 19k fractional worksMedia Influence and Health: 18k fractional worksComparative Literary Analysis and Criticism: 17k fractional worksLiteracy, Media, and Education: 15k fractional worksSpanish Literature and Culture Studies: 15k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.