FEMINISM AND LITERATURE

Llugdar, Patricia

Pereyra, Marina

Literary Studies II Universidad Tecnológica Nacional

FRVM-Regional Villa María

Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa

2012

Feminist Criticism in Literature

Organization Key facts about Feminism

Lois Tyson

Stephen Bonnycastle

Analysis of: Story of an Hour Phenomenal Woman

Activity on the Wiki Brick Lane

Feminism and Feminist theory

What is Feminism?

Which are the aims of feminist theory?

Which are the beginnings of Feminism?

Which are the modern western feminist movements?

Lois Tyson: Critical Theory Today

“Broadly defined, feminist criticism examines the ways in which literature (and other cultural production) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social and psichological oppression of women.”(Tyson, 81)

“… “habit of seeing”, a way of looking at life, that uses male experience as the standard…”(Tyson,82)

Male point of view: universal, part of the literary canon “Patriarchal woman…..a woman who has internalized the

norms and values of patriarchy…” (Tyson, 83) Traditional Gender Roles ‘Biological essentialism’ Difference between the words ‘gender’ and ‘sex’

Patriarchal Ideology

Traditional Gender Roles American stereotypes Classical Fairy tales: “good girls”

“bad girls”

“Prince Charming” Feminist criticims in movies

Feminist Premises

Patriarcal ideologies

“…woman is other…” (Tyson, 90)

‘phallogocentric thinking’

‘Sex’ and ‘Gender’

‘Feminist Activism’

Gender issues in Literature

Getting Beyond Patriarchy Programming

Differentiating patriarchal modes of writing

and ‘écriture fémenine’ Finding contradictions in ideologies ‘Deconstructing’ Combining theories to be critical on schools of

thoughts Interpreting subjectively

Multicultural Feminism

White feminism vs. black feminism

“Therefore, the promotion of sisterhood --- psychological and political bonding among women based on the recognition of common experiences and goals--- must include respect for and attention to individual differences among women as well as an equitable distribution of power among various cultural groups within feminist leadership” (Tyson, 96)

Approaches for literary text analysis

“Approaches that attempt to develop a specifically female framework for the analysis of women’s writing are often referred to as gynocriticism.”(Tyson, 101)

- Patriarchal or Feminist agenda - Resistance to patriarchy through sisterhood- Cultural factors and gender- Women and creativity- Author’s style in writing- Historical/Public opinion about the literary work and

its operations of patriarchy- Relationship between the literary work and women’s

literary history

Stephen Bonnycastle:In Search of Authority

“Patriarchal order”

Sexism in Language, Literature and Criticism

Carl Jung’s view on differences between women and men

Story of an Hourby Kate Chopin

Whose experience is rendered most fully and faithfully? (page 184, line

9)

Are women presented as stereotypes? Are women seen as locked into

those patterns with no significant freedoms or flexibility?(page 184, line

33)

Are masculine and feminine activities presented differently? Do men

dominate women or vice-versa? Is the text critical to women’s patriarchal

stereotypes? (page 184, line 34)

Based on Bonnyclastle’s theory

Question for the class to answer

Whose desires and fantasies are driving the novel? When it comes to an end, does the feeling of completion come from the fact that someone’s desires have been achieved?

Phenomenal Womanby Maya Angelou

Who is the speaker and what is the occasion? What is the central purpose of the poem? By what means is that purpose achieved? What does the history of the work’s reception by

the public and by the critics tell us about the operations of patriarchy?

What role does the work play in terms of women’s literary history and literary tradition?

Based on Tyson’s theory

Question for the class to answer

What might an examination of the author’s style contribute to the ongoing efforts to delineate a specifically feminine form of writing?

Activity for Wiki: “Brick Lane”

Read the premises in Tyson’s Critical Theory Today (page 90), watch until minute 12:10 and find as many premises reflected there as possible. Finally, give reasons and examples for your choices.

Conclusion

Feminism aims at gaining a balance between women and men in all spheres of society, without having anyone undiminished but treated fairly and equally.

Works Cited and Consulted

Angelou, Maya. The Complete Collection of Poems of Maya Angelou. Random House,1994.Print.

Barnes &Noble. Meet the Writers Monica Ali.Barnesandnoble.com.lic.2011.Web.2 Mar.2012.

Bonnycastle, Stephen. In Search of Authority: An Introductory Guide to Literary Theory. Ontario. Canada: Broadview Press,1997.Print.

BookRags. Encyclopedia of World Biography on Maya Angelou. Thomson Gale.2006.Web. 2 Mar.2012.

Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.,1996.Print.

Di Yanni, Robert. Literature. McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2000.

Works Cited and Consulted“Feminism”. Wikipedia Foundation,Inc. 21 Feb. 2012.Web. 2 Mar

2012.

“Maya Angelou”. The Free Dictionary Farflex,Inc.

2012.Web.2 Mar.2012.

Perrine, Laurence. Literature, Structure, Sound and Sense. Harcourt, Brace & World, 1970.

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Story of an Hour.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 2 Mar. 2012.

Tyson,Lois. Critical Theory Today. NewYork/London: Garland Publishing,Inc.,1999.Print.