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RADICAL AND REVISIONARY: AN EXAMINATION OF FEMINIST LITERARY CRITICISM, ITS THEORY, STYLE, AND POLITICS
Abstract
For centuries, women have protested male domination of literary criticism. Not until recently, however, did a full-scale feminist literary criticism evolve, a result of the women's movement, the establishment of feminist presses and women's studies, and the gaining, by women, of power in organizations like the MLA. This new, proliferating feminist criticism, which began in the 1960's, is a reaction to criticism of the past. Feminist critics are examining, for example, non-canonical women's literature, including works by lesbians, women of color, and working-class women; they are analyzing, too, how sexual politics has adversely affected the lives of literary women. Unlike critics of the past who have often been misogynist, patronizing, or silent about women, feminist critics are challenging sexist interpretations, asking probing questions about women and literature, and developing new critical theories with women as central, not peripheral, to them. Feminist critics have, of course, drawn on criticism of the past for concepts and methods, particularly romantic criticism, historical/biographical criticism, sociological criticism, and psychological criticism. Yet there are departures from the past, differences that define feminist criticism. Unlike other criticism, feminist criticism focuses on women. Furthermore, its ideas, and its style, reflect its philosophy that "the personal is political" and that the study of literature cannot be separated from our lives and from our culture that, through the institutions of patriarchy and capitalism, denies women power, autonomy, and significance. The fact that feminist criticism is a personal and political criticism is both a problem and a strength. As feminist criticism moves into the 1980's, many persons are threatened by its politics and feel criticism should not blur the line between literary criticism and personal issues like sexuality. Yet because it speaks, at long last, about the politics of literature and life and examines literature from women's perspectives, feminist criticism is an intellectually invigorating criticism, challenging critical concepts such as "tragedy" and developing a new personal and political style of criticism consistent with feminist politics. Feminist criticism is, in short, a radical and revisionary criticism. Because of its emergence, literature will never be the same, for women or men.
Subject Area
Literature
Recommended Citation
KNEPPER, MARTY STEELE, "RADICAL AND REVISIONARY: AN EXAMINATION OF FEMINIST LITERARY CRITICISM, ITS THEORY, STYLE, AND POLITICS" (1982). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8217536.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8217536