Essays on women, literature, and theory article pdf available in ilha do desterro april 2008 with 5,839 reads how we measure reads. What is the feminist approach to literary criticism. Feminist criticism may also look at intersectionality, looking at how factors including race, sexuality, physical ability, and class are also involved. Rather, it was a renewal of an old traditton of thought and action already possessing its classic books whlch had diagnosed problem of womens inequality in society, and in some cases proposed solutions. While some argue that the difference may stem from essential biological differences between the sexes, others suggest that the differences may stem from womens different inscription in culture. One of the major problems in feminist literary criticism is the tendency to generalise when exploring language and gender. Christian feminist exegesis has other procedures and thematic concerns compared with a jewish feminist engagement with the bible. This school of thought seeks to analyze and describe. The black womanistfeminism or black feminist thought movement comes out of the feminist movement of the 1970s and is a direct interface with the civil rights movement, as it recognizes that women of african descent in the u. This lecture introduces feminist literary criticism by giving a history of feminism and introducing the foundational concepts of feminist theory. This form of criticism places literature in a social context and employs a broad range of disciplines, such as history, psychology, sociology, and linguistics, to create a perspective that considers feminist issues. Feminist criticism tries to correct predominantly maledominated critical perspective with a feminist consciousness. Some feminist critics seek to interpret the works of male authors, with particular attention to women characters, in order to explore the moral, political and social restrictions. The impact of feminism on literary criticism over the past thirtyfive years has been profound and wideranging.
Modern feminist literary theory seeks to understand both the literary portrayals and representation of both women and people in the queer community, expanding the role of a variety of identities and analysis within feminist literary criticism. Second wave feminism literary theory and criticism. Since people have written literature, critics have been interpreting it. In feminist linguistics in literary criticism, katie wales has collected together seven diverse essays by women linguists and prefaced them with a brief. Feminist literary criticism may bring in tools from other critical disciplines, such as historical analysis, psychology, linguistics, sociological analysis, and economic analysis. Alternatively, it is still considered as the literary evaluation of linguistic devices. Feminist literary criticism is used to explore the inequalities, social injustices and abusive messages directed toward women within patriarchal societies and cultures. Apr 17, 2017 feminist literary criticism is used to explore the inequalities, social injustices and abusive messages directed toward women within patriarchal societies and cultures. Additionally, feminist criticism has been closely associated with the birth and growth of queer studies. Feminist literary criticism is literary criticism informed by feminist theories or politics. This volume clarifies the issues involved and tests generalisations by specific analysis, and in the process defines a feminist sty.
It uses feminist principles and ideology to critique the language of literature. By the beginning of the 1980s, feminist criticism was becoming more self. It encompasses work in a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, economics, womens studies, literary criticism, art history, psychoanalysis and philosophy. An introduction provides an accessible overview of major figures and movements in literary theory and criticism from antiquity to the twentyfirst century. It uses feminist principles and ideology to critique the. Feminist criticism and related aspects oxford handbooks. Edited by katie wales, royal holloway, university of london. Jun 28, 2016 an informed analysis and evaluation of a piece of literature. Some little while after revising the second edition in 1989, raman prematurely and tragically died of a brain tumour. It is designed for students at the undergraduate level or for others needing a broad synthesis of the long history of literary theory. Feminist literary criticism recognizes that since literature both reflects culture and shapes it, literary studies can either perpetuate the oppression of women or help to eliminate it.
Saussure argued that linguistics should move from a diachronic study of language, that is, how language develops historically, to a synchronic study, that is, treating language as a. Feminist criticism is a form of literary criticism that is based on feminist theories. Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical or philosophical fields. Another was simply that philosophy of language is illequipped to further feminist aims.
This chapter considers the development of feminist literary theory and feminist criticism in the academic context in canada in the second wave of feminism in north america. Briefly, feminist criticism aims to reinterpret literature from a female point of view. Feminist linguistics in literary criticism by katie. Feminism and linguistic theory is a critical but comprehensive and accessbile introduction to recent work in this area. Critical approaches to literature university of new mexico.
Hired to teach primarily chaucer and medieval literature, i found myself teaching linguistics, literary theory, and feminist theory as well. While in practice feminist critics continue to use a variety of methodological approaches to literature, there are common assumptions that underlie a feminist approach to anything. History launched in the twentieth century with virginia woolfs a room of ones own 1929 1969 kate millett examined how women are represented in text by famous men in sexual politics. How to use feminist literary criticism pen and the pad. These essays employ close scrutiny of texts to clarify gender issues in feminist literary criticism, where one of the major problems has been the tendency to generalise when exploring language and gender. Feminist philosophy of language stanford encyclopedia of. In the early days of feminist philosophy of language, much attention was devoted to ways that philosophy of language was problematic from a feminist point of view. The literary criticism is a concept, formed on the basis of critical analysis and primarily estimates the value and merit of literary works for the presence or quality of certain parameters of literary characteristics. In particular, feminist literary critics tend to reject the patriarchal norms of literature that privileges masculine ways of thinkingpoints of view and marginalizes women politically, economically and. A section on lacanian psychoanalysis has been added to the chapter on psycho. Feminist literary criticism is the critical analysis of literary works based on the feminist perspective.
Arguments have been made by some contemporary feminist linguists that female uses of language differ from male uses. The trends and influence of literary criticism for western. The root cause of this type of criticism lies in the oppression of women in social, political, economic and psychological literature. In the second half of the western literary history of the 20th century, the feminist occupy a very important position, since the structure can be said that the major criticism of literary criticism schools.
The chapter on feminist criticism now contains sections on. A readers guide to contemporary literary theory raman selden peter widdowson peter brooker fifth edition a readers guide to contemporary literary theoryis a classic introduction to the everevolving field of modern literary theory, now expanded and updated in its fifth edition. Literary criticism the analysis of a literary text though various lenses that highlight authorial stance, purpose, and perspective. Or a written study, evaluation and interpretation of a work of literature. It offers a sterling example of the illuminations which are made possible when questions of gender are firmly at the heart of serious critical enquiry. The chapter on feminist criticism now contains sections on gender studies and french feminism, the latter including discussions of both the. This research guide will assist you in finding sources for feminist literary criticism. A feminist analysis of henrik ibsens a dolls house analysing the role that literary forms and practices, together with the discourses of literary criticism and theory, play in perpetuating or chal lenging hierarchies of gender, class, race and sexuality ibid. The first, called feminist critique by some, views the ways that male authors describe and represent female characters in their works. Critical methodology a feminist literary critic resists traditional assumptions while reading a text. The thesis supported in this paper is that the poetry of adrienne rich can straighten out some of the controversies in recent feminist literary criticism.
Its history has been varied, from classic works of female authors such as george eliot, virginia woolf, and margaret fuller to recent theoretical work in womens studies and gender studies by thirdwave authors. The seven essays in the collection analyse widely varying literary texts, using the framework of linguistic theory to address feminist issues. Feminist criticism feminism and feminist criticism the. Towards a feminist poetics by elaine showalter with detailed study notes and examines gynocritics, feminism, problems of feminist critique.
A guide into feminist theories and criticism a research. Second wave feminism is a term used to describe a new period of feminist collective political activism and militancy which emerged in the late 1960s. It is upon this commonality that i wish to dwell, so as to place feminist literary criticism within the context of a more general critical theory. Feminist theory 32 three main areas of study and points of criticism exist in the feminist theory. Showalter has proposed a separate and independent model of feminist literary. Feminist stylistics therefore focuses on the analysis of texts from a feminist.
Patriarchy is a system of social organization that traces descent through the male line and bestows privilege and power to males on the assumption of. Linguistic analysis and semiological studies can tell us much about how cultural. Feminist literary criticism the new york public library. Feminist linguistics in literary criticism essays and studies 9780859914116.
Feminist linguistics in literary criticism boydell and brewer. Canadian feminist literary criticism and theory in the. It is broadly explained as the politics of feminism and uses feminist principles to critique the maledominated literature. One sort of criticism was that philosophy of language, like english, displays a male bias.
Introduction a history of feminist literary criticism. Feminist literary criticism is a literary criticism knowledgeable by feminist theory, or, more broadly, by the politics of feminism. A readers guide to contemporary literary theory 5th edition. Feminist literary theory also suggests that the gender of the reader often affects. Elaine showalters feminist criticism is a clearly articulated feminist literary theory. I can think of no more enjoyable or clear or generally approachable introduction to the most vexing problems in the study of language than deborah camerons feminism and linguistic theory. Second wave feminism by nasrullah mambrol on october 28, 2017 4. These two forms of analysis, mills continues to demonstrate, use a host of linguistic models, including hallidays sfg and searles speechacts, but the. Cameron, deborah, feminism and linguistic theory, 2nd edn london. Part of the fun of reading good literature is looking for all its meanings and messages.
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