Feminist literary criticism is the product of the women's movement of the 1960s. This theory depends on the image of women in the literary work. It also defined as the discussion of female issues by male or female writers.
Some terms:
According to Toril Moi:
Feminist: political position
Female: matter of biology
Feminine: a set of culturally defined characteristic
The stages of this movement:
In 1970s critical attention was given to book by male writers in which typical images of women were constructed.
In 1980s, there were drastic changes related to feminism:
Feminist started to be eclectic. (Benefiting from a lot of fields such as Marxism, structuralism and linguistics.
Feminist started to pay attention to the nature of female ( her interests , and her thinking instead of criticizing men only )
Feminist started to found new principles of literature; by rereading and rewriting (novel, drama and poetry) that was written by men in a way that neglected women.
Feminist started to establish set of ideas and thoughts and to invent new terminology.
Starting to publish and spread " gynotexts" ( books written by women). In the late 1970s there was a shift of attention from androtexts to gynotexts.
Studying gynotexts called gynocriticism.
According to Elaine Showalter gynocriticism is the study of individual or collective female careers.
Feminist individualism: women have their own decision to achieve their identity and self-determination and it is related to freedom.
Feminist collectivism: women constrain by some standers.
Waves of feminism
ý First wave: women asked for the primitive needs (the right to vote and to choose their husband).
ý Second wave: women wanted equality with men (in education, and business, money). They wanted to have political position in the government.
ý Third wave (radical feminism): in this wave women asked for their own societies and some of them wanted to corrupt the notion by (lesbian communities).
Feminism and the role of theory
There are three schools:
i. Anglo _ American feminism ( America)
ii. Social Marxist ( England)
iii. French feminism (France)
Anglo _ American feminism
This school presents the second wave of feminism where they demand equality with men.
Main characteristics
1. They believe in close reading of the text (objectivity). They pay individual emphasis on the historical background and memories of the author to understand the text.
2. They present traditional themes, ideas and characterization.
3. They accept literary realism / logic.
Social Marxist in England
1. Believe in cultural materialism.
2. Conflict of classes.
3. They do not believe in reality.
French feminism
They are the followers of Freud & Derrida.
1. they believe in the unconscious
2. meanings are subjective
3. they do not believe in the notion of reality
4. They believe in the notion of death of the author.
Important books
v Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)
The importance of this book arises from three factors:
1) The first emerged for feminist books.
2) It is purely the first book written by a female and disuses male writers like Milton and pop.
3) It describes the first wave of feminism.
v Virginia Woolf`s A Room of One's Own (1929)
This book portrays the unequal treatment given to women, seeking education and deciding their own marriage.
Some terms:
According to Toril Moi:
Feminist: political position
Female: matter of biology
Feminine: a set of culturally defined characteristic
The stages of this movement:
In 1970s critical attention was given to book by male writers in which typical images of women were constructed.
In 1980s, there were drastic changes related to feminism:
Feminist started to be eclectic. (Benefiting from a lot of fields such as Marxism, structuralism and linguistics.
Feminist started to pay attention to the nature of female ( her interests , and her thinking instead of criticizing men only )
Feminist started to found new principles of literature; by rereading and rewriting (novel, drama and poetry) that was written by men in a way that neglected women.
Feminist started to establish set of ideas and thoughts and to invent new terminology.
Starting to publish and spread " gynotexts" ( books written by women). In the late 1970s there was a shift of attention from androtexts to gynotexts.
Studying gynotexts called gynocriticism.
According to Elaine Showalter gynocriticism is the study of individual or collective female careers.
Feminist individualism: women have their own decision to achieve their identity and self-determination and it is related to freedom.
Feminist collectivism: women constrain by some standers.
Waves of feminism
ý First wave: women asked for the primitive needs (the right to vote and to choose their husband).
ý Second wave: women wanted equality with men (in education, and business, money). They wanted to have political position in the government.
ý Third wave (radical feminism): in this wave women asked for their own societies and some of them wanted to corrupt the notion by (lesbian communities).
Feminism and the role of theory
There are three schools:
i. Anglo _ American feminism ( America)
ii. Social Marxist ( England)
iii. French feminism (France)
Anglo _ American feminism
This school presents the second wave of feminism where they demand equality with men.
Main characteristics
1. They believe in close reading of the text (objectivity). They pay individual emphasis on the historical background and memories of the author to understand the text.
2. They present traditional themes, ideas and characterization.
3. They accept literary realism / logic.
Social Marxist in England
1. Believe in cultural materialism.
2. Conflict of classes.
3. They do not believe in reality.
French feminism
They are the followers of Freud & Derrida.
1. they believe in the unconscious
2. meanings are subjective
3. they do not believe in the notion of reality
4. They believe in the notion of death of the author.
Important books
v Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)
The importance of this book arises from three factors:
1) The first emerged for feminist books.
2) It is purely the first book written by a female and disuses male writers like Milton and pop.
3) It describes the first wave of feminism.
v Virginia Woolf`s A Room of One's Own (1929)
This book portrays the unequal treatment given to women, seeking education and deciding their own marriage.
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