Feminist Literary Criticism as a Branch of Literary Criticism - Assignment Example

Feminist Approaches Feminism and feminist literary criticisms: definitions a. A matter of what is absent rather than what is present. Feminist literary criticism as a branch of literary criticism has its roots in distinction between male and female objective reality and respective representative strategies. The concept underlying origins of feminist criticism implies that gender of the writer and the reader or – in other words – gender system of the society have profound impact on creation and interpretation of literary works. According to this approach, the female components are absent in classical literary canon. The roots of supposed distinction between male and female language are sought either in biology or in the early childhood development stages. b. Feminism is concerned with difference and marginalization of women. Feminists were disturbed by the way women are marginalized in the patriarchal society and – in more narrow sense – in literature. This includes peculiarities of womens depiction in male literature, their exclusion from the conventional literary canons, and underestimation contribution female writers make to the development of literature. Moreover, many male authors tend to treat women from the stereotypical standpoint, e.g. Joyce, Miller and Lawrence whose relation of women in their texts was biased with stereotypes. c. Our culture is a patriarchal culture. The society we have been living in is patriarchal or male-dominated. Patriarchal society influences culture and literature in particular dictating its rules. Bearing in mind that the lions share of literary texts created by men are subject to bias imposed by patriarchal traditions and male authority, feminists have been seeking to reevaluate classical canons in literature from the standpoint of female interpretation and authorship. They were interested in how language could become a tool which would help to enact social change (Booker). In other words, shift in gender imbalance of the society was expected to be achieved through the language (which is a reflection of the culture). According to feminists, «large” literary texts should be reconsidered and as “literature plays a central role in development of social attitudes towards women and of womens attitudes towards themselves” (Booker). Genuine womens experience cannot be mirrored in literature in its original form as women writers who have been included into literary canon share gender and language norms and stereotypes accepted in culture of the society. This means that the main problem posed by patriarchal society to women as writers is in the following: women wont be included into the literary canon and recognized as writers unless they conform to and promote traditional – patriarchal – aesthetic and social values. Furthermore, it was discovered by the feminist critics while studying works of the nineteenth century female writers, many of them were forgotten (such representatives as the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen are taken rather for an exception) or – if they achieved recognition in their lifetime, their fame withered away after they died. Gilbert and Gubar in their book also considered the problem of a woman writer in the patriarchal society stating that women were imprisoned by patriarchal canons in literature and they needed to escape this limitations imposed by male literary stereotypes before they try to write themselves (Gilbert & Gubar). d. Gender imbalances The primary purpose of this approach to literary criticism is making up for gender inequalities present in patriarchal society searching for specific female means of expression in literature that would help to mirror the specific womens objective reality in literary texts. One of significant theses of this approach is the thesis promoting importance of empiricism and extra-literary ingredients of female literature research. In other words, women’s experience that differs considerably from that of men should be also taken into account. 2. Historical overview and major themes in feminist criticism The foundations of feminist criticism were laid as far back as in the late 18th century together with the feminist movement itself. However, upsurge of feminism has been observed since the beginning of the twentieth century with a special approach to literary criticism forming in the feminist environment. The credible literary criticism emerged about three decades ago, winning much popularity in the Western culture. This was predetermined by development of complex conceptions concerning subjectivity and gender in the Third wave of feminism. Despite the fact that feminist literary criticism can take various forms and focus on different aspects, there is a common feature for all varieties – existence and recognition of the special female objective reality. Moreover, one of the key ideas of this approach lies in the following: the way women write (and also read) differs dramatically from those of men, thats why womens literary theory is needed that would be self-standing and independent from male theorys influence. 3. Four significant current practices a. Gender studies Gender studies as a modern interdisciplinary study focuses on gender identity and gender peculiarities as criteria of analysis. Thus, these criteria are used in other disciplines views from the standpoint of gender differences. Gender studies are interrelated with psychology, history, anthropology, political science etc. This is a general approach which – in its literary aspect – requires revision of both literary texts and history by women. b. Marxist feminism Marxist feminism as a branch of feminist theory investigating the ways of women’s oppression through capitalist system. This trend in feminism emphasizes that women’s labor is underestimated in this system and the whole capitalist system should be reformed. In terms of literary criticism, Monique Wittig, a prominent critic, denies the idea of the separate women’s language, suggesting instead that women should challenge literary traditions accepted in the patriarchal society (Booker). c. Psychoanalytic feminism Psychoanalytic feminism is a branch of feminism based on Freud’s doctrine, yet criticizing it in certain issues. Psychoanalytic feminism considers gender to be the product of psychosocial development rather than biological category. Thus, this theory claims gender inequality to have its origins in early childhood when children are convinced they are feminine or masculine. According to this approach, there shouldn’t be gender specification in education. d. Minority feminist criticism Minority feminism is a branch focusing on the issues of oppression concerning female representatives of minorities, for example, African American females. However, black feminism faces tougher tasks and differs from feminism as it is, because black women have more issues concerning ethnicity, race and sexuality as well as stereotypes that are absent in white society. Minority feminists claim to have a more complex set of problems connected with stereotypes cultivated in societies and thus encourage feminism in general to promote interests of all women as a gender regardless of their belonging to minorities. In the recent years feminist literary theory has been given more attention with all the more texts written by females being the subject of serious critical analysis and becoming a part of the curriculum. The literary canon is being reconsidered from the standpoint of women, and the number of women’s attempts in literature increases. This progress has been achieved due to joint efforts of French, American and also the third-world feminist critics. Work Cited: Booker, M. Keith. Practical Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism, Longman Publishing Group, 1995, Print. Gilbert, Sandra & Gubar, Susan. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination, Yale University Press; 2 Sub. Edition, 2000. Read More