Literary criticism based on close analysis of the text WordNet 3.0 & Open English WordNet

New Criticism was a formalist movement in literary theory that dominated American literary criticism in the middle decades of the 20th century. Wikipedia

a formalist movement in literary theory Wikidata

A movement in literary theory that dominated American literary criticism in the middle of the 20th century, emphasizing close reading, particularly of poetry, to discover how a work functions as a self-contained, self-referential aesthetic object. Wiktionary