The article describes the types of latest research presented in foreign literary studies at the beginning of the XXIst century. The аuthor focuses on the formation of such critical approaches as cognitive criticism, Darwinian criticism, ecocriticism, human and animal studies. The author focuses on the problems of literature at the beginning of the XXIst century, which are closely related to the latest achievements in neurobiology, cognitive science, environmental and evolution issues. A review of the modern foreign researcher’s works allows us to conclude that they are related to poststructuralist, postmodern, evolutionistic and actor-network theories. The significance of these critical approaches is determined by the fact that they are relevant and applicable for not only literary analysis and literary criticism, but also for research in sociology, psychology and in the field of interdisciplinary research.