Criticism

thumb|La Crítica, a 1906 self-portrait by Julio Ruelas where criticism is depicted as a creature atop his head.

right|thumb|250px|Critic by Lajos Tihanyi. Oil on canvas, .

Critique is a method of disciplined, systematic study of a written or oral discourse. Although critique is frequently understood as fault finding and negative judgment, it can also involve merit recognition, and in the philosophical tradition it also means a methodical practice of doubt. The contemporary sense of critique has been largely influenced by the Enlightenment critique of prejudice and authority, which championed the emancipation and autonomy from religious and political authorities.

school of literary criticism and literary theory

Wertkritik (; "value critique" or "critique of value") is a school of Marxian critical theory that emerged in Germany in the 1980s. It sees itself as a continuation of Karl Marx's "esoteric" critique of the value-form, which it argues has been largely abandoned or misunderstood by "traditional" or "workers'-movement Marxism". The school's central figures include Robert Kurz, Roswitha Scholz, Norbert Trenkle, and Ernst Lohoff. Its main theoretical organs have been the journals Krisis and, following a 2004 split, Exit!.