Feminist Criticism - One Approach to Literature
Summary
TLDRThis video script explores feminist criticism as a lens for analyzing literature, emphasizing its evolution from the 1800s to modern times. It discusses how feminist theory views literature's role in reinforcing or challenging women's oppression, focusing on language, institutions, and societal norms. The script outlines key phases: the feminine phase with male pseudonyms, the feminist phase marked by argumentation and anger, and the female phase seeking authenticity in women's perspectives. It also poses critical questions for literary analysis, such as portrayal of women, gendered values, and the impact of patriarchy on women's creativity.
Takeaways
- đ Literary theory is a lens for viewing texts, not the only way, and can be interchanged with other theories like new criticism or deconstruction.
- đ Literary theory assumes no reading is innocent; it's about studying the text's impact on readers and their emotional or rational reactions.
- đ Feminist criticism is concerned with how literature reinforces or undermines the oppression of women in various societal aspects.
- đ± Feminist criticism originated in patriarchal societies and challenges male-dominated social constructs that have historically controlled women's lives.
- đ It observes, analyzes, and challenges language, institutions, and powers that reflect patriarchal interests impacting women's expression and quality of life.
- đȘ Women's resistance and subversion to patriarchal oppression is a key focus, examining how they fought back against societal constraints.
- đ Modern feminist criticism emphasizes empowerment through representation, with women writing about their experiences to challenge the status quo.
- đ There are three phases in feminist criticism: the feminine phase with male pseudonyms, the feminist phase with argumentation and anger, and the female phase focusing on authenticity of a woman's point of view.
- đ€ Key questions in feminist criticism include how women are portrayed, the opportunities available to them, and the values tied to gender roles.
- đ It also explores how the status quo is reinforced or challenged, and how gender relationships and traits from opposite genders are portrayed in literature.
- đ Feminist criticism helps to understand the operations of patriarchy and what literature reveals about women's creativity and their struggle within a male-dominated culture.
Q & A
What is feminist criticism and how does it relate to literary theory?
-Feminist criticism is an approach within literary theory that examines the ways in which literature and other cultural productions reinforce or undermine the oppression of women. It is a lens through which we can view texts, focusing on the representation, experiences, and treatment of women within those texts.
How does feminist criticism view the act of reading and interpreting texts?
-Feminist criticism assumes that there is no such thing as an innocent reading of a text. It posits that readers do not simply read to read; instead, they engage with the text in a way that can elicit emotional or spontaneous reactions, or they may use reason and structured approaches to interpret the text.
What are the three essential functions of feminist criticism?
-Feminist criticism observes, analyzes, and challenges the language, institutions, and powers that reflect patriarchal interests, which have a profound impact on women's expression and quality of life.
Can you describe the three phases that feminist criticism has gone through?
-The three phases of feminist criticism are the Feminine Phase (1800s), where women often wrote under male pseudonyms; the Feminist Phase or Polemics (early 1900s to 1970s), characterized by angry argumentation against women's oppression; and the Female Phase (starting in the 1980s), which focuses on the authenticity of a woman's point of view.
How does feminist criticism tie into socio-economic and race criticisms?
-Feminist criticism can be closely tied to socio-economic and race criticisms, such as Marxist theory, as it examines the conflicts and hardships that women face in literary works, especially within a masculine-centric ideology.
What are some questions to ask when analyzing a text through the lens of feminist criticism?
-Some questions to consider include: How are women characters portrayed? What opportunities are available to them compared to men? What values are gendered? How is the status quo reinforced or challenged? How do female characters subvert the status quo? How are gender relationships portrayed? Do characters take on traits from opposite genders?
How does feminist criticism view the portrayal of women in literature?
-Feminist criticism looks at how women are portrayed in literature, including how they are treated by others, described, and whether they fall into stereotypical categories, especially when the text is written by a man.
What does feminist criticism reveal about the operations of patriarchy in literature?
-Feminist criticism reveals how women are affected economically, socially, politically, and psychologically within a patriarchal society, as depicted in literature.
How does feminist criticism view women's creativity in literature?
-Feminist criticism examines the expression of women's creativity in literature, especially in the context of a world where women were often not allowed to create, and how this suppression affects them.
What is the purpose of using feminist criticism as a lens for literary analysis?
-The purpose of using feminist criticism is to study the way women are treated in a text through language and institutions created by a male-dominated culture, and to understand how women acquiesce, challenge, and/or change the status quo.
Outlines
đ Introduction to Feminist Criticism
The speaker, Mrs. Simmons, introduces the concept of feminist criticism as a lens through which to view literature, emphasizing that it is one of many approaches and should be approached with an open mind. She clarifies that literary theory is not the sole method for interpreting texts but rather a tool that can be interchanged with others, such as new criticism or deconstruction. The paragraph outlines the purpose of literary theory, which is to study the text and its effects on the reader, rather than just reading for pleasure. It also highlights that feminist criticism emerged from patriarchal societies and seeks to examine the ways literature and cultural productions either reinforce or challenge the oppression of women. The speaker provides a brief overview of feminist theory, noting its focus on language, institutions, and power structures that reflect patriarchal interests and impact women's lives. The paragraph concludes with an introduction to the three phases of feminist criticism: the feminine phase, the feminist phase, and the female phase, each characterized by different approaches to women's representation and empowerment in literature.
đ Feminist Criticism: Analyzing Women's Portrayal and Resistance
This paragraph delves deeper into the specifics of feminist criticism, discussing the three essential aspects: observing, analyzing, and challenging language, institutions, and powers that perpetuate patriarchal interests. It outlines the historical progression of feminist criticism, starting with the feminine phase in the 1800s where women writers often used male pseudonyms to be taken seriously. The feminist phase, from the early 1900s to the 1970s, is characterized by angry argumentation against women's oppression in a male-dominated society. The most recent phase, the female phase beginning in the 1980s, focuses on the authenticity of a woman's point of view, moving beyond the need to prove legitimacy and instead exploring what it means to be a woman in modern society. The speaker also poses several questions to guide the analysis of literature through a feminist lens, such as how women are portrayed, the opportunities available to them compared to men, and how gender relationships are depicted. The paragraph concludes with a call for a deeper understanding of women's creativity and the impact of patriarchal constraints on their expression.
đ Conclusion: The Evolution of Feminist Criticism
In the concluding paragraph, the speaker summarizes the discussion on feminist criticism, reiterating that it is a lens for viewing texts that examines the treatment of women within a male-dominated culture. The paragraph acknowledges the evolution of feminist criticism through various phases and suggests that it will continue to change in response to the modern world. The speaker invites questions from the audience and provides contact information for further discussion, emphasizing the importance of an open dialogue on the subject. The conclusion reinforces the idea that feminist criticism is a dynamic and evolving approach to literary analysis, one that continues to adapt and grow as society's understanding of gender and equality progresses.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄFeminist Criticism
đĄPatriarchal Societies
đĄLiterary Theory
đĄDeconstruction
đĄSocio-Economic Criticism
đĄAuthenticity
đĄPseudonym
đĄSubversion
đĄEmpowerment
đĄPortrayal of Women
đĄGendered Values
Highlights
Literary theory is a lens for viewing texts, not the only way.
Feminist criticism emerged from patriarchal societies and challenges male-dominated beliefs.
Feminist theory observes, analyzes, and challenges language, institutions, and powers reflecting patriarchal interests.
Feminist criticism examines women's resistance and subversion to patriarchal oppression.
Modern feminist criticism focuses on women's empowerment through representation and challenging the status quo.
Three phases of feminist criticism: Feminine phase, Feminist phase, and Female phase.
In the Feminine phase, women writers used male pseudonyms to be accepted by a male-dominated audience.
The Feminist phase was characterized by argumentation and anger against women's societal roles and oppression.
The Female phase seeks the authenticity of a woman's point of view, moving beyond traditional gender roles.
Feminist criticism questions how women are portrayed in literature and their treatment by others.
It explores the opportunities available to women compared to men and the values associated with gender.
The theory examines what is reinforced or challenged in the status quo regarding gender roles.
Feminist criticism looks at how female characters subvert the status quo.
It analyzes gender relationships and how they are portrayed in literature.
The theory considers how characters take on traits from the opposite gender and the impact on others' reactions.
Feminist criticism reveals the operations of patriarchy and its effects on women's lives.
It questions what literature says about women's creativity and their reaction to suppressed creative expression.
Feminist criticism is a dynamic lens that continues to evolve in the modern world.
Transcripts
hi guys mrs. Simmons I am here to talk
about feminist criticism remember that
this is only one approach to literature
and I hope that you approach it with an
open mind and don't get too hung up on
that f-word there first thing I want you
to understand is that literary theory is
always simply a lens that we put on and
and use to view the text that we're
reading it's never the way the only way
to view a text it's a lens that can be
interchanged with another one so if I
decide to view a text through new
criticism I'm going to be specifically
breaking down the elements to that text
and only deal with the text I don't care
about anything else just the text itself
and what it has in it if I decide to
look at this with deconstruction I would
be trying to break down the binaries
that I see are present within the text
but I can always take these lenses off
and put the next one on so feminist
theory is simply one way in which we can
view the text so has another brief
overview of literary theory I want to
stress that literary theory assumes
there's no such thing as an innocent
reading of a text ever
we don't just read to read there's
nothing wrong with that but when we're
talking about literary theory and
literary criticism we are studying the
text and what it does to us does it pull
emotional or spontaneous reactions to
the text do we avoid emotion and use
only reason and highly structured
approaches to make sense of a text and
it's important that we do this because a
well-defined logical and clearly
articulated literary theory and nabel's
readers to develop their own methods of
interpretation and then justify their
interpretation in a way that's very
logical and consistent that way we don't
have a smattering of different ideas
with no cohesive whole using one theory
or maybe two or three theories together
it really helps us broaden our ability
to interpret and gives us a very logical
way in which to prove our interpretation
as an approach that's acceptable so a
quick background of feminist theory and
this is this first quote here that
this from the online Writing Lab at
Purdue says feminist criticism is
concerned with the ways in which
literature and other cultural
productions reinforce or undermine the
economic political social and
psychological oppression of women so
feminist criticism did arise from
patriarchal societies in Europe and
America patriarchal of course meaning
male-dominated but this concept is
inherent in most social constructs most
social beliefs that are around across
the world are a male dominated belief
where for a very long time men
controlled most elements of the society
so what does feminist criticism do well
ultimately it's looking at the conflicts
hardships that women face throughout
literary works especially in a masculine
centric ideology this can be very
closely tied to socio-economic and race
criticisms and the socio-economic
criticism would be Marxist theory so
there are three essential things that
the feminist criticism does it observes
analyzes and challenges the language
institutions and powers that have
reflected a patriarchal interest and
these interests that have a profound
impact on women's expression and quality
of life so language meaning the way we
change words for instance and this isn't
a big deal but for instance that we say
mailman that is in feminist criticism
sexist institutions the concept of a
marriage being the man making the money
the woman staying at home and taking
care of the house that sort of concept
so marriage religion that might tamp
down women's freedom the second bullet
says women's resistance and subversion
to patriarchal oppression so how did
women fight back how did they try to
free themselves from the oppression that
they were facing in their lives and then
finally a more modern take on this as
the empowerment for women through
representation through women writing
about women sharing their beliefs their
experiences and really challenging the
status quo through
having a voice so there are three phases
that feminist criticism went through the
first one was the feminine phase and
this was pretty early on this is in the
1800s or so most women who were writing
would write with a male pseudonym so
they made up a name Charlotte Bronte of
Jane Eyre that we are reading soon in
fact wrote under a male pseudonym curer
Belle and later revealed that she was a
woman lucky for her to positive reviews
but she had to fake it for a while
additionally women during this time
period tried to reach the male-dominated
audience because that was who was
reading their material it wasn't an
equal audience so they were playing it
safe they wanted to be successful as
writers they didn't want to be condemned
for writing things that would not be
accepted by the culture so they played
it safe the second phase is from the
early 1900's to the about the 1970s or
so and this was the feminist phase or
polemics this is argumentation but it
was particularly angry these were people
who were fed up with their lives and
where they were and really criticized
the role of women in society and the
oppression that they faced in a
male-dominated society and so this was
the the angry part of the feminist
criticism development and then the
newest ones starting in about the 1980s
was the female phase where they really
started focusing on the authenticity of
a woman's point of view so they no
longer needed to prove that a female's
point of view was legitimate now they
were trying to figure out what does it
even mean so to kind of break that down
for you what is authenticity they're
trying to decide what does it mean to be
a woman and a woman in a modern society
so they tried to almost do opposites and
realize that didn't work so for example
we know in general on one hand we tend
to associate things like science reason
and logic with men so then does that
mean on the other hand women must be
unreasonable in the logic no that's not
a satisfactory answer so then let's do
something more like deconstruction
there's reason versus intuition logic
versus emotion well does that mean then
that men can't be intuitive or emotional
and conversely that women can't be
reasonable or logical no that is also
not a satisfactory answer it's obviously
not the case and so they had to lead
themselves down a more authentic path to
figure out what a woman's point of view
was and it really started to recognize
the fact that a woman can be
authoritative and logical but also
compassionate and thoughtful and what
they do with their lives so when I did
this over new criticism structuralism
and deconstruction I had questions to
ask while you're reading a piece of
literature so I have some questions here
I know it's a lot bear with me as I go
through and kind of explain some of them
so the first question says how are women
characters portrayed in literature it's
an important question how are they
treated by others how are they described
if they're written if the text is
written by a man how do they describe
the woman does the woman fall into the
category of trying to make another
female character particularly beautiful
when perhaps she doesn't need to be so
that's a something that we really want
to look at is how they're portrayed the
second question says what opportunities
are available to them compared with men
so a comparison there of what they can
and cannot do the third question what
values are gendered or to make this a
little more simple what constitutes
masculinity and femininity what values
do we tie to masculine and feminine
qualities the fourth question says what
is reinforced or challenged in this
status quo so remember this can tie with
race and socioeconomic status but it's
really this concept of what it what is
reinforced what is challenged when it
comes to status quo then the next
question is how does the female
character subvert that status quo how do
they go against it so what is reinforced
or challenged and then how is it
reinforced or challenged next question
is how our gender relationships
portrayed that's really important this
is something that we've been dealing
with since the dawn of man how do men
and women get along how do we make this
work in a world where sometimes equality
isn't really there
and if it is there what problems are we
still facing the next question says do
characters take on traits from opposite
genders how so does this change others
reactions to them this is something
we're gonna see in the first few
chapters of Jane Eyre where she has
traits that are not expected for a young
girl and it completely changes the way
others treat her the second last
question says what is the work reveal
about the operations of a patriarchy so
how are women affected economically
socially politically and psychologically
and then the last one is what does the
work say about women's creativity that's
really important because in a world
where women were not allowed to create
we have to ask ourselves what does that
do to the woman who cannot create how do
they react to that there are some really
important pieces of literature that
challenge this concept of women who feel
so restrained that they don't get to be
themselves and they go to an extreme to
try and cope with their tamped down
treat creativity so our conclusion here
remember that feminist criticism is just
one lens with which to view a text it
studies the way women are treated in a
text through language and institutions
created by a male-dominated culture it
studies the way in which women acquiesce
challenge and/or change the status quo
and it's gone through many phases and
quite honestly we will probably continue
to change in a modern world you have any
questions please leave a comment or send
me an email on our Simmons won at USC to
5/9 net thank you for listening hope was
informative and have a great day
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