Im familiar with the feminist canon from the 70s and 90s, and try to keep up on it today, but i am not sure what the essential titles are in the field right now. Feminist literary critical theory divya rengarajan. For inadequacies in the way marxism, socialism, and critical theory have coped with womens issues, see richard j. Feminist film theorists routledge critical thinkers 1st. Transnational feminism developed out of postcolonial and women of color feminisms, both of which critiqued the idea that sisterhood is global see robin morgan, sisterhood is global, new york. Thius edition of the recently published book spotlight is on the work of michelle ciurria. Frankenstein, feminism, and literary theory cave ab homine unius libri, as the latin epigram warns us. Buy a cheap copy of feminist theory and critical theory book by herbert marcuse. Transnational feminism literary and critical theory. Feminist theory and criticism while the term black feminism originated in the 1970s, the central tenets of black feminist ideology date back to the midnineteenth century. Women writers from the middle ages to the present 820. This essay offers a very basic introduction to feminist literary theory, and a. As an oppressed group, women have been unable to achieve their potential, receive rewards, or gain full participation in society. As a whole, this piece of an extended conversation within feminism suggests both the illusory comfort of generic demarcations and the discomforting power.
Books and magazines are in italics, all other types of literature are not and are in quotation marks. What is the single most important gender studies feminist theory book of the last 15 years. Feminist literary theory on frankenstein by jenna gilbert. All feminist activity, including feminist theory and literary criticism, has as its ultimate goal to change the world by prompting gender equality. It is inspired greatly by marxs theoretical formulation of the relationship between economic base and ideological superstructure and focuses on how power and domination operate. It examines gender politics in works and traces the subtle construction of masculinity and femininity, and their relative status, positionings, and marginalizations.
This school of thought seeks to analyze and describe the ways in which literature portrays the narrative of male domination by exploring the economic, social, political, and. Information on feminist literary criticism and theory, including autobiography, autography, autofiction, crime novels, detective stories, drama, theatre, plays. It assesses the validity of critiques of feminist theory, such as. A great book to get you up to speed with feminist film theory. The following is a list of feminist literature, listed by year of first publication, then within the year. Feminist literary criticism grew out of political feminism. She introduced deconstructive critical strategies into cultural studies, especially feminism. Feminist criticism feminism and feminist criticism the.
Feminist theory and critical theory book by herbert marcuse. Feminist legal studies is committed to an international perspective and to the promotion of feminist work in all areas of law, legal theory and legal practice. As such, this will focus on the tenants of critical theory as it applies to the historical oppression experienced by latino gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender americans. Although both critical and feminist theory focus on social and economic inequalities and both have an agenda of promoting system change, these two traditions. Starting with the suffrage and similar movements that struggled to obtain voting and property rights for women, the late nineteenth and. The essays in this volume represent the most recent thinking collected on the problematics of feminism and critical theory, engaging the question of the relationship between these terms and the differences within each in terms of the other. Feminist literary theory on frankenstein feminist literary theory on frankenstein general definition. Feminist literary criticism the new york public library. Professor holland is also responsible for bringing a feminist classic, the queen is in the garbage by lila karp to the attention of the feminist press for publication 2007. Unlike some other critical schools you might encounter cough new criticism cough, feminist theory is always evolving and adapting to new cultural and academic environments.
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 psychologically, according to paul ady, associate professor of english at assumption. Feminist literary criticism is literary criticism informed by feminist theory, or more broadly, by the politics of feminism. Black feminists in both the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries argued that the intersection of race, class, and gender in their lives, commonly referred to as the double bind, inevitably shape the political and. In intersectionality as critical social theory patricia hill collins offers a set of analytical tools for those wishing to develop intersectionalitys capability to theorize social inequality in ways that would facilitate social change. While intersectionality helps shed light on contemporary social issues, collins notes that it has yet to reach its full potential as a critical social theory.
The cambridge companion to feminist literary theory feminism has dramatically in. Feminism is the theory that men and women should be equal politically, socially, and economically. For information on modern critical terms, schools and movements, see pp. Conceptualizing critical feminist theory and emancipatory. 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. Gender critical feminism is a term used by those in the feminist community who consider gender a harmful social construct that is confused with but distinct from biological sex. A valuable, provoking, important addition to any theatre scholar or practitioners library, especially since feminist theory is a relative newcomer to the world of theatre. Adams wasis a pioneer in connecting words with images. She is the author of the erotic life of racism duke university press, 2012, a theoretical project that explores the intersection of critical race, feminist, and queer.
Feminist theory recognizes many flaws in traditional western, judeochristian, european, male philosophy and offers a new way of thinking about issues affecting humans and our world. Women have something valuable to contribute to every aspect of the world. Having shown where iat went wrong in relying on theories other than marxism, sims goes on to show how americas imprisonment binge of the last two decades is a reflection of a society whose institutions are in disarray. She illustrates how an exclusively textual route towards understanding nonwestern customs is doomed. This widely cited pioneering work presents a new introduction by the editor and a new bibliography of feminist critical theory from the last decade.
The first major book of feminist critical theory published in the united states is now available in an expanded second edition. Most importantly, its fighting the good fight with all the tools it can musterrazor sharp tiaras, lassos, and. Feminist theory is an international interdisciplinary journal that provides a forum for critical analysis and constructive debate within feminism theoretical pluralism feminist diversity feminist theory is genuinely interdisciplinary and reflects the diversity of feminism, incorporating perspectives from across the broad spectrum of the humanities and social sciences and the full range of. What is the feminist approach to literary criticism. Gender issues play a part in every aspect of human production and experience, including the production and experience of literature, whether we are consciously aware of these issues or not. Spivaks subaltern perspectivethe politically dispossessed could be voiceless, written out of the historical record largely because the traces of their activity were regarded as noncultural, or at least without structure, and thus without volition wish, will, desire, preference, choice. Although both feminist theory and critical theory focus on social and economic inequalities, and both have an agenda of promoting system change, these fields of inquiry have developed separately and seldom draw on each others work. Thinking about critical theory this information is to understand, express, and critically assess social theory from the position of a scholar in the profession of social work. Feminist literary theory has deliberately transgressed traditional boundaries between literature, philosophy, and the social sciences in order to. Feminist theory encompasses a range of diverse ideas, all of which originate. Marxist, conflict, and feminist 199 iat in more thoroughly marxist terms.
Elaine showalter pioneered gynocriticism with her book a literature of their own. Feminist literary criticism also known as feminist criticism is the literary analysis that arises from the viewpoint of feminism, feminist theory, andor feminist politics. Feminism and critical theory gayatri chakravorty spivak. Socialist feminist theory, program and organizational structure, by radical women 1967. Feminist film theorists routledge critical thinkers 1st edition.
Critical feminist theory calls on us to reconsider our existing understandings of knowledge, power, and spaces of empowerment. The world health organization defines gender as the socially constructed roles. Feminist literary criticism is the critical analysis of literary works based on the feminist perspective. Feminist approaches to literature great writers inspire.
Deborah rhode, feminist critical theories, in critical legal theory j. Printed in great britain feminism and critical theory gayatri spivak university of texas at austin received and accepted september 1978 synopsisthis is a taped transcript of a talk given from notes. Deconstruction underlines the inherent capacity of the language to suggest supplementary or excess semantic associations. Subtitled a feministvegetarian critical theory, this small book is no small work. The author argues that critical feminist theory, as a distinct methodology, offers diverse ways to think about disrupting the canon, question hegemonic.
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