Feminist Literary Criticism

1. Feminist Literary Criticism By:Julie Miezejeski, Liz Lynde, Caitlin Monahan, Marissa Trantino

2. Feminism • Literary criticism displayed by feminist theory • Before 1970- the first and second waves of feminism dealing with politics of women’s authorship and the representation of women’s condition within literature • Third Wave-more complex conceptions of gender- considering in terms of Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis

3. Goals of Feminist Critisism • To uncover and develop a female tradition of writing • To interpret symbolism of women’s writing so it will not be ignored by a male point of view • To rediscover old texts

4. Goal Continued • To analyze women writers and their writings in a female perspective • To oppose sexism in literature • To Increase awareness of sexual politics of language and style

5. Advantages of Feminist Criticism • Women have been somewhat underrepresented in the traditional cannon, and a feminist approach to literature redresses this problem.

6. Disadvantages • Feminist turn literary criticism into a political battlefield and overlook the qualities of works they consider "patriarchal."   When arguing for a distinct feminine writing style, they tend to relegate women's literature to a ghetto status; this in turn prevents female literature from being naturally included in the literary cannon. The feminist approach is often too theoretical.

7. Feminist Fairy Tales • Engage in a debate about literary conventions and societal norms • A response to other tales by women • French fairy tales exemplify political and historical conditions in France beginning with those from the female perspective • Example: Mlle de La Force, Mme de Muart, Mlle Bernard- all patronized women in classical literature such as nurses or maids

8. Literary Examples • Excerpt from Sleeping Persun of Better-Than-Average Attractiveness • Clip from The Paper Bag Princess • “The Great Person-Hole Cover Debate”-Van Gelder • “If Men Menstruated”-Steinem • “The Feminine Mystique”-Betty Friedan

9. Example Questions When Using Feminist Criticism • How do men and women differ? • Are their female heroines? If so, how do they differ from the male heroes? • Does the literature include the use of stereotypes as it relates to women? • How does the use of pronouns represent masculine ideology? (ex. he in place of he or she)

10. Questions Continued • Can the gender of the author be determined simply through the text? (stylistic differences between a woman’s and a man’s writing) • Does the text represent what it means to be a woman? • Does the text seem to favor one gender over the other?

11. Bibliography • Garner, James. Sleeping Persun of Better-Than-Average Attractiveness. • Literary Criticism. 1999. 15 Mar. 2009 <www.literatureclassics.com/ancientpaths/litcrit.html>. • Munsch, Robert. The Paper Bag Princess. Canada: Annick P, 1980.