Feminism and Postmodernism

Summary

The video script discusses the intricate relationship between postmodernism and feminism, highlighting their ambivalent connection. It emphasizes the seminal work of Judith Butler, who introduced the concept of gender as a discursive construct and performance, rather than a biological fact. The lecture explores postmodern feminism's critique of universalizing concepts and its focus on language, discourse, and power dynamics. It contrasts this perspective with other feminist theories such as radical, Marxist, and liberal feminism, each with its own approach to understanding and addressing gender inequality. The script also examines the dialogue between postmodernism and feminism, their shared opposition to grand narratives, and the challenges they pose to each other's principles. Key theorists like Helene Cixous, Julia Kristeva, and the concept of 'cyborg' by Donna Haraway are mentioned as influential to the discourse. The summary underscores the importance of understanding these theories not in isolation but in the context of their dynamic interaction with one another.

Takeaways

• 📚 The lecture discusses the complex relationship between feminism and postmodernism, highlighting both their points of convergence and divergence.
• 🎭 Postmodern feminism is marked by a shift from structuralism towards post-structuralism, emphasizing the idea of gender as a discursive construct and performance rather than a biological fact, as proposed by Judith Butler.
• 👥 Postmodern feminism challenges the notion of a universal female identity and rejects identitarian terms like 'queer' and 'transgender', advocating for attention to differences among women.
• 🔍 It critiques previous feminist theories for their false universality, pointing out the use of categories like race, class, and sexual orientation that don't apply universally to all women.
• 🌐 Postmodern feminism is distinguished from other feminist theories such as radical, Marxist, and liberal feminism, focusing more on language, discourse, power, and knowledge rather than on political and social reforms.
• 🤝 The connection between postmodernism and feminism is seen as complementary due to their shared opposition to grand narratives and Enlightenment ideals, as well as their focus on dismantling traditional representations of women.
• 🚫 However, there are contradictions, such as postmodernism's lack of a clear strategy for resistance and its political ambivalence, which can complicate its alignment with feminism's political stance.
• 👩‍🏫 Key proponents of postmodern feminism include Helene Cixous, Julia Kristeva, and Judith Butler, who are concerned with the role of language and discourse in shaping gender and power dynamics.
• 📖 The script mentions several influential works and authors that have contributed to postmodern feminist thought, such as Linda Nicholson's 'Feminism/Postmodernism' and Linda Hutcheon's various contributions.
• 🤖 Donna Haraway's concept of the 'cyborg' is highlighted as a significant intervention, offering a new way to envision feminism in the context of technology and challenging traditional dualisms.
• 🔄 Sara Ahmed's work is noted for advocating a reevaluation of the relationship between feminism and postmodernism, encouraging feminism to question and engage with postmodernism rather than being dictated by it.

Q & A

What is the relationship between feminism and postmodernism as discussed in the lecture?

The lecture suggests that feminism and postmodernism have an ambivalent relationship. They sometimes contradict each other but can also act as complementary forces. Postmodernism challenges grand narratives and essentializing ideas, which aligns with feminism's goal of deconstructing traditional gender roles and identities.

Who is considered a key figure in the development of postmodern feminism?

Judith Butler is considered a key figure in the development of postmodern feminism, with her work on performativity and the concept of gender as a discursive construction rather than a biological fact.

What is the significance of Judith Butler's idea of 'performativity' in the context of gender?

Judith Butler's idea of 'performativity' challenges the traditional view of gender as a fixed biological reality. Instead, she argues that gender is something that is performed and constructed through language and social norms, emphasizing the fluidity and changeability of gender identities.

How does postmodern feminism differ from other feminist theories such as radical feminism, Marxist feminism, and liberal feminism?

Postmodern feminism differs from other feminist theories in its focus on language, discourse, and the relationship between power and knowledge rather than on politics and opportunities. It critiques the universalizing tendencies of other feminist theories and emphasizes the importance of recognizing differences among women.

What is the term 'difference' in the context of postmodern feminism?

In postmodern feminism, the term 'difference' is central and refers to the recognition and importance of acknowledging the diverse experiences and identities of women, moving away from the idea of a single, homogeneous group of women.

What is the concept of 'historiographic metafiction' as discussed by Linda Hutcheon?

Historiographic metafiction, a term coined by Linda Hutcheon, refers to literary texts that assert an interpretation of the past while also being intensely self-reflexive. These texts critically engage with their own version of truth, acknowledging it as partial, biased, and incomplete.

How does Linda Hutcheon challenge the Marxist critique of postmodernism?

Linda Hutcheon challenges the Marxist critique of postmodernism by arguing that postmodern modalities aid the process of criticism rather than suspending it. She uses the example of Terry Eagleton's novel 'Saints and Scholars' to illustrate that postmodern works can rethink history and offer political critique.

What is the significance of Donna Haraway's 'Cyborg Manifesto' in the context of postmodern feminism?

Donna Haraway's 'Cyborg Manifesto' is significant because it proposes a new kind of feminism that transcends traditional boundaries between human and machine, challenging hierarchical dualisms. The cyborg figure represents a world without clear distinctions, offering new possibilities for feminist theory and practice in the digital age.

Why does Sara Ahmed argue that feminism should ask questions of postmodernism?

Sara Ahmed argues that feminism should ask questions of postmodernism because postmodernism has been allowed to dictate certain feminist debates. She believes that feminism should challenge this by interrogating postmodernism's construction in relation to rights, ethics, subjectivity, authorship, metafiction, and film.

How does the lecture suggest postmodern feminism can contribute to our understanding of literature?

The lecture suggests that postmodern feminism can contribute to our understanding of literature by offering a critical lens through which to examine the representation of women, the construction of gender identities, and the relationship between language and social norms. It encourages a more nuanced and complex reading of literary texts.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Feminism and Postmodernism

The lecture introduces the complex relationship between feminism and postmodernism, suggesting an ambivalent connection where they both contradict and complement each other. It highlights Judith Butler's work as a turning point, emphasizing the concept of 'performativity' and viewing gender as a discursive construct rather than a biological fact. Postmodern feminism challenges the idea of a universal female identity and critiques essentializing concepts like 'queer' and 'transgender'. The lecture also differentiates postmodern feminism from other feminist theories such as radical, Marxist, and liberal feminism, noting its focus on language, discourse, power, and knowledge rather than direct political action.

05:03

🔍 Exploring the Affinities and Contradictions between Feminism and Postmodernism

This section delves into the perceived alliance between postmodernism and feminism, discussing their shared opposition to grand narratives and traditional representations of women. It examines Linda Nicholson's work questioning whether postmodernism is a natural ally to feminism, given its opposition to normative masculinity. The summary acknowledges the complementary forces of both movements but also points out the contradictions. It references the views of Linda Hutcheon and Chris Weedon, who argue that postmodernism lacks a clear strategy for resistance and is politically ambivalent, while Patricia Waugh and Nancy Hartsock raise concerns about postmodernism's impact on women's agency and subjecthood.

10:05

🎨 Linda Hutcheon's Perspective on Postmodernism and Feminism

The paragraph presents Linda Hutcheon's unique perspective on the intersection of postmodernism and feminism. It discusses her critique of Marxist views, particularly those of Fredric Jameson and Terry Eagleton, who argue that postmodernism lacks depth and political engagement. Hutcheon counters this by illustrating how postmodern works, such as Eagleton's 'Saints and Scholars,' can engage with history in a meaningful way. She introduces the term 'historiographic metafiction' to describe literature that reinterprets history while being self-reflexively aware of its own biases and limitations, offering a more nuanced approach to understanding the past.

15:08

📚 Postmodern Feminist Interventions and Theoretical Developments

This section overviews significant feminist interventions in postmodern thought, including Patricia Waugh's 'Feminine Fictions,' which critiques the exclusion of women from postmodern discourse, and Donna Haraway's 'A Cyborg Manifesto,' which proposes a new feminist perspective in the age of technology and blurred boundaries between human, animal, and machine. It also touches on the contributions of other theorists like Mary Jacobus, Catherine Belsey, and Craig Owens, emphasizing the importance of integrating feminist practices with postmodern concerns to better understand culture and power dynamics.

20:15

🤖 The Cyborg as a Symbol of Postmodern Feminism

The paragraph focuses on Donna Haraway's concept of the cyborg as a symbol of postmodern feminism. It discusses how the cyborg, a being that is both human and machine, challenges traditional dualistic hierarchies and boundaries. Haraway uses the cyborg as a metaphor to envision a world free from hierarchical dualisms and to suggest that postmodern feminism can benefit from such a boundary-defying figure. The summary also mentions Haraway's influential works that have significantly contributed to feminist theory in the context of technology and digital age.

25:18

🌟 Challenging Conventional Views: Sara Ahmed's Perspective on Feminism and Postmodernism

The final paragraph discusses Sara Ahmed's challenge to conventional ways of theorizing the relationship between feminism and postmodernism. Ahmed argues that postmodernism has been allowed to dictate certain feminist debates and that feminism should instead question postmodernism. She proposes examining postmodernism's construction in relation to various aspects such as rights, ethics, subjectivity, authorship, metafiction, and film. The summary emphasizes the importance of understanding the differing political positions within discussions of feminism and postmodernism and the need for continuous dialogue between these movements.

Keywords

💡Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a philosophical movement characterized by skepticism, relativism, and a general distrust of grand theories and ideologies. It is central to the video's theme as it explores the relationship between postmodernism and feminism. The script discusses postmodernism's opposition to grand narratives and its focus on smaller, multiple narratives, which parallels feminist efforts to challenge traditional representations of women and oppressive structures.

💡Feminism

Feminism is a social and political movement advocating for equality between the sexes. In the context of the video, feminism is contrasted with postmodernism to highlight their ambivalent relationship. The script notes that while there are moments of contradiction, feminism and postmodernism also work as complementary forces, challenging each other's perspectives and enriching the discourse on gender and identity.

💡Postmodern Feminism

Postmodern feminism is a theoretical approach that combines postmodernist skepticism with feminist concerns about gender and power. The video identifies the inaugural moment of postmodern feminism with Judith Butler's work, emphasizing the concept of gender as a discursive construction and performance. This concept rejects the dualistic view of gender and challenges essentializing ideas about women.

💡Performativity

Performativity, as introduced by Judith Butler, is the idea that gender is not a fixed identity but something that individuals perform through their actions and behaviors. This concept is highlighted in the script as a key component of postmodern feminist thought, suggesting that gender is created through social interaction rather than being a biological determinant.

💡Structuralism

Structuralism is a theoretical framework that suggests that elements of human culture can be understood in terms of their structure and relationship to one another. The script mentions structuralism as a precursor to post-structuralism, which is marked by a 'linguistic turn' and the work of Judith Butler, indicating a shift in focus from structures to language and discourse.

💡Post-Structuralism

Post-structuralism is a movement that emerged as a critique of structuralism, emphasizing the instability of meaning and the importance of context. The video describes post-structuralism as a turning point influenced by Judith Butler's ideas on gender performativity, which reject fixed meanings and highlight the fluidity and context-dependence of identity.

💡Essentialism

Essentialism is the belief that certain characteristics are inherent to a person or group. The script discusses how postmodern feminism challenges essentialism by rejecting the idea that all women share a common identity or experience of oppression, emphasizing instead the importance of recognizing individual differences.

💡Identity Politics

Identity politics refers to political positions based on the interests and perspectives of social groups with which people identify. The video critiques identity politics by highlighting postmodern feminism's challenge to identitarian terms like 'queer' and 'transgender,' advocating for a more nuanced understanding of gender and identity.

💡Difference

In the context of postmodern feminism, 'difference' is a central concept that emphasizes the unique experiences and identities of individuals within a group. The script explains that postmodern feminism is attentive to the differences inherent within the category of 'women,' rejecting universalizing concepts and advocating for a more diverse and inclusive understanding of gender.

💡Historiographic Metafiction

Historiographic metafiction is a term coined by Linda Hutcheon to describe literary works that provide an interpretation of the past while also being self-reflexive about their own truth claims. The script uses this term to discuss how postmodern works can engage with history in a critical and playful manner, offering a political critique without claiming objective truth.

💡Cyborg

A cyborg is a being that combines organic and artificial components, often used metaphorically to challenge traditional boundaries. In the script, Donna Haraway's concept of the cyborg is highlighted as a figure that resists final definitions and hierarchical dualisms, offering new possibilities for feminism in the digital age and embodying the fluidity of identity.

Highlights

The lecture explores the ambivalent relationship between feminism and postmodernism, discussing their contradictions and complementary aspects.

Postmodern feminism is marked by Judith Butler's work, proposing gender as a discursive construction and performance rather than a biological fact.

The concept of performativity rejects dualistic views of gender and emphasizes the fluidity and construction of gender roles.

Postmodern feminism challenges identitarian terms like 'queer' and 'transgender', and opposes essentializing and universalizing ideas about women.

Postmodern feminism criticizes previous feminist theories for their false universality and calls for attention to differences among women.

The term 'difference' is central to postmodern feminism, which focuses on language, discourse, power, and knowledge.

Postmodern feminism differs from radical, Marxist, and liberal feminism in its approach to understanding and addressing oppression.

Feminist theory is distinguished from feminism as a political stance, with the former being a philosophical and analytical approach.

Feminism and postmodernism are often seen as natural allies due to their shared opposition to normative masculinity and grand narratives.

Linda Nicholson's work questions whether postmodernism is a natural ally of feminism, given its opposition to enlightenment ideals.

Postmodern feminism is characterized by its critique of essentialist masculinist Enlightenment thought.

The lecture highlights the importance of distinguishing between postmodernism as a movement and postmodernist theories.

Feminist theory and postmodernism share similarities in their rejection of grand narratives and their focus on structures of oppression.

Contradictions between postmodernism and feminism are discussed, such as postmodernism's lack of strategies for feminist resistance.

Patricia Waugh critiques postmodernism for its lack of attention to the 'death of the author' concept during a time when women were seeking authorial voices.

Nancy Hartsock's work questions postmodernism's move away from history and subjectivity, which feminism finds problematic.

Linda Hutcheon's work is highlighted for finding a balance between postmodernism and feminism, especially in literary criticism.

Hutcheon uses 'historiographic metafiction' to describe literature that reinterprets history while acknowledging its own biases.

Patricia Waugh's 'Feminine Fictions' is noted for addressing the exclusion of women writers in postmodern discourse.

Donna Haraway's 'Cyborg Manifesto' is highlighted for proposing a new kind of feminism in the age of technology and blurred boundaries.

Sara Med's 'Differences that Matter' challenges conventional ways of theorizing the relationship between feminism and postmodernism.

The lecture concludes by emphasizing the importance of dialogue between postmodernism and other movements like Marxism and feminism.

Transcripts

Hello everyone, I am happy to welcome you  yet again to another session of the NPTEL  

course postmodernism and literature. Today's  lecture is titled feminism and postmodernism,  

and this needs to be seen in continuation with  our discussions of Marxism and postmodernism.  

And how we illustrated, how Marxism needs  to be seen in radical opposition and as a  

contrast to how postmodernist theory is work. And as a corollary to our understanding  

of Marxism and postmodernism, feminism  and postmodernism has a more ambivalent  

relationship. There are occasions when they  contradict each other, but it also exists as  

two kinds of a complementary forces at work both  in different paradigms all together. And we begin  

looking at the implications of postmodern  feminism and what we understand by that. 

It would be appropriate to say that the  inaugural moment of a postmodern feminism  

could be located with the work of Judith Butler,  and this is something we have already taken a  

look at in one of the earlier sessions. it  is also a turning point from structuralism  

towards the post structuralism its marked  by linguistic turn as we have already noted. 

And Judith Butler proposed the idea of  performativity and a new theory of gender  

arguing that gender needs to be seen as discursive  construction, and a performance rather than a  

biological fact. And this sort of a concept  also rejected the dualistic view of gender  

and also pointed towards the interoperability,  of the body from language and social norms. 

For example when we talk about the woman as a  linguistic construct it needs to be kept in mind  

that we focus is on the becoming rather than the  being. In that sense “One is not born a woman,  

but one becomes a woman”. So, this sort of play  with the language aspects and how it interferes  

with the meaning making process has been one of  the important objectives of Judith Butler's work. 

And this sort of an idea also rejects assumption  that all women share a common kind of oppression,  

and they could be clubbed together under  a common kind of an identity. So in that  

sense the postmodern feminism is also  about challenging identitarian terms  

such as ‘queer’ and ‘transgender', and also  about locating women away from all kinds of  

essentializing and universalizing ideas. There are certain very market ways in  

which postmodern feminism departs or moves away  from the existing kinds of feminist theories,  

the postmodern feminist approach criticized  the preceding feminist theory for claiming  

false universality. And this was due to the  use of categories such as a white, or western,  

or heterosexual, or middle class, and postmodern  feminist began to argue that these sort of  

universalizing essentialists are concepts cannot  be used to talk about all women across the globe  

and this also entail that one cannot see women  as a single homogeneous group, but should be  

attentive to the differences, which are inherent  within. So, in that sense the term ‘difference'  

could be located at the heart of all postmodern  feminisms. Postmodern feminism also critiqued  

all preceding theories as being part of the  essentialist masculinist enlighten comes closer to  

the postmodern ideas shared by a number of other  theorists. And some of the major proponents of  

this postmodern post structuralist of feminism are  Helene Cixous, Julia Kristeva and Judith Butler. 

Postmodern feminism is concerned more with  language discourses and relationships between  

power and knowledge and less about politics  and opportunities. So, how does it differ  

from say radical feminism or Marxist feminism  or liberal feminism? Radical feminism operates  

with the assumption that at the heart of all  kinds of oppression remains patriarchy and  

the society is inherently patriarchal.. Marxist feminism moves away a little bit  

from radical feminism and argues that it is  not all about patriarchy it is also about  

capitalism. And when we come to liberal feminism  it talks about gender as a limiting principle,  

which could harm and which could delimit both  men and women it talks about giving equal  

opportunities to men and women. It also does not  seek to revolutionize the system, but rather it  

refers to a work within the system and reforms  the systems in a particular ways. In that sense  

postmodern feminism is very different from radical  feminism, Marxist feminism or liberal feminism. 

So it is also important to delineate the  distinction between feminism and feminist theory,  

feminism needs to be seen as a stance it is more  like a political position, but feminist theory on  

the other hand is a philosophical and analytical  approach that employs this political position to  

read cultural practices like art or literature. So, when we talk about feminist theory it is also  

drawing a link between the representations of  women in art and the real material conditions  

in which they live, this understanding  of the distinctions is very important  

just like our understanding just like  we understand the distinction between  

post modernism and post modernist theories. One of the most common ways in which feminism  

and post modernism has been talked together  as their representation is natural allies. So,  

Linda Nicholson in her edited work  Feminism/Post modernism published in 1990,  

she asked this person in question- “ Is post  modernism a natural ally of feminism- and  

this is primarily due to be its opposition to a  normative masculinity, which operates in league  

with the ideals of enlightenment project”?- and  this identification of a natural ally in each  

other for feminism identifying an ally in post  modernism and for postmodernism identifying an  

ally in feminism, this has been seen as a most  common form of retiring, the most common form of  

critic which could be used in this context. And there are certain definite of reasons  

for seeing postmodernism and feminism as  complementary forces, because if we talk  

of feminist literary criticism which is a direct  product of the women's movements of the 1960s,  

we can see that those theories and those writers  they realize the significance of the images of  

women, and also realize that it is vital to combat  them and question their authority and the feminist  

literary critical practices were also defined  against the traditional representation of women. 

In similar ways postmodernity or post modernism  was also characterized by smaller and multiple  

narratives, they also questioned Meta narratives  like patriarchy, capitalism, liberal humanism,  

and Marxism. So, at some level both feminist  theories and both postmodernist theories we  

are moving away from the grand narrative of  the enlightenment project and also identifying  

certain structures of oppression which were  inherent to those enlightenment projects. 

And post modernism moved away from the  classical dualist practices and also  

against the fears asceticism of the 19th century  works and they also reacted against the absolute  

unitary conception of knowledge. So, these two  ideas in which feminist theory moves against  

the traditional representation of women, and  how postmodernist theories move against the  

absolute unitary conception of knowledge  they go together as complementary forces,  

though they work in different paradigms  it is a difficult not to notice some of  

the similarities with which they operate. And post modernism feminism , has also been  

seen as two leading forces of a times two leading  movements, two leading conceptual frameworks  

which are also very definitive of these times,  and the intellectual and the academic culture  

of the western capitalist democracies they  also seem to reflect these two framework,  

they also seem to reject these two  frameworks in more dominant fashion. 

And postmodernism and feminism in that sense  they also share they certain affinities in  

their struggles against the grand narratives.  And very important to know that these are not  

descriptive categories, but they are constitutive  and evaluative terms. But this affinity that we  

locate between postmodernism and feminism  is not as neat as it looks there are also  

certain contradictions which are part of this. If we look at two positions adopted by Linda  

Hutcheon and Chris Weedon, Linda Hutcheon's note  said- “ post modernism has not theorized agency;  

It has no strategies of resistance that would  correspond to feminist ones. There is no way  

in which the feminist and the postmodern can be  conflated”, and Chris Weedon also reiterates- “  

feminism is politics. Postmodernism is not; it  is certainly political, but it is politically  

ambivalent, double encoded as both complicity  and critique; so that it can be (and has been)  

recuperated by both the left and the right, and  each ignoring half of that double coding”. So,  

in what Linda Hutcheon and Chris Weedon highlights  or we can also see the contradictions which  

are in operation in these discussions  related to feminism and post modernism. 

And Patricia Waugh also illustrates a way in  which some of the feminist theories also need  

to move away from the ideas such as the death of  the author or the incredulity towards her grand  

narratives. In her own words- “they should not  be surprised that so many women in the seventies  

articulated a desire to become ‘authors of their  own lives' at precisely the moment that Barthes  

was announcing the death of that concept”. So here Patricia Waugh was also talking back  

to the ideas such as the death of the author,  because it was also a way in which women who  

were just beginning to articulate themselves were  also, they were forced negate themselves because  

it was the wake of post modernism. So, there are  various ways in which post modernism and feminism  

they seem to contradict each other and they  seem not to share a certain kind of politics. 

And Nancy Hartstock also shares this same opinion  when we talk about the shift towards objectivity,  

and in 1990 she writes –“ why is it that  just at the moment when so many of us who  

have been silenced begin to demand the right  to name ourselves, to act as subjects rather  

than objects of history, that just then the  concept of subject hood becomes problematic?” 

Why post modernism celebrates this moving away  from history, the moving away from subjectivity?  

Feminism finds precisely that problematic because  their politics is also rooted very heavily  

very predominantly on the idea of history. And a similar thing could be noted in the  

differences in the deconstructive impulses  put forward by postmodernism and feminism,  

on the one hand postmodern deconstructive  theories the deconstructive approaches can be  

seen as nihilistic as they do not really resolved  anything and there is no way of knowing anything,  

it is a move away from epistemology towards  the celebration of ontological existences. 

Femiinism on the other hand it employs a more  positive kind of deconstruction, because through  

the employment of deconstructive practices which  are being used in certain texts the feminist  

practices are able to denaturalize cultural  practices and binary oppositions. And this is  

also a way in and, and it is also imperative that  these sort of deconstructive practices employed  

from the feminist perspective they grounded  in the idea that women were and are oppressed. 

So, it is this sense of history which gives a  positive impulse to the deconstruction which  

is being used from a feminist standpoint  and it is the move away from history,  

it is a move away from knowing, move away from  identifying anything as truth or anything is  

knowledge that makes the postmodern deconstructive  approach a more nihilistic and more negative. 

And this also brings us to another  important factor that the feminists critics,  

the feminists critics and the feminist conceptual  frameworks also have this need to believe in or  

acknowledge a certain grand narratives. And also to acknowledge that there is a  

certain dominant consensus which is in practice  which is in place and if we do not do that it  

becomes impossible to challenge, subvert,  and rigid those grand narratives which have  

also become the basis, become the foundation of  various practices of suppression and oppression. 

While looking at the various ways in which  the feminist theories may be posited,  

in opposition to postmodern theories it  is important to look at Linda Hutcheon who  

seems to have a struck a balance the right  kind of a balance in understanding of post  

modernism and also in placing feminism and  post modernism together in the same framework  

during high literary critical practices. Linda Hutcheon is a Canadian academic  

and she is also the author of a number of  influential theories related to post modernism,  

she also has the uncanny ability to place them  within the broader debates of the contemporary. 

And some of her important works include A  Postmodern Reader, A Poetics of Postmodernism  

History, Theory, and Fiction, The Canadian  Postmodern, A Theory of Adaptation Rethinking  

Literary History and also A Theory of Parody.  As survey of her works would tell you her work  

focuses on the idea of parody and also on the ways  in which she employs post modernism to analyze  

particular historical and a narrative a fiction. The feminist position that Linda Hutcheon adopts  

in connection with her work on post modernism  it drew particular attention with respect to  

the base in which she contradicted, the idea  of Jameson the arguments of Jameson which also  

predominantly argued that post modernism suspense  the base of any certainty such as history,  

subjectivity, or reference and also suspense  all tiny kinds of standard of judgment. 

And James also lamented the lack of critical  capabilities as we have noticed and his work  

and Hutcheon on the other hand highlights  how postmodern modalities aid the process  

of critic rather than suspending there. so here Linda Hutcheon uses a very efficient  

framework a very efficient set of arguments  to move against Jameson position of arguing  

that post modernism is eventually nothing, but an  offshoot of capitalist practices. Linda Hutcheon  

in that sense also takes us through this journey  where she where she illustrates that postmodernism  

works through a parody and how the element of  parody helps postmodern text to both legitimize  

and subvert that which it parodies. And she also  shows through a discussion of a range of texts  

that post modernism can rethink history. And for this she particularly sets out to  

debunk the Marxist critics of post modernism she  argues against the dominant notions put forward  

by Marxist theory such as Jameson and Terry  Eagleton, who also hold the view that postmodern  

intertextuality merely reproduces the past in  the form of a shallow and compromised nostalgia,  

rather than revealing its construction in  discourse and the ideology, they also showed  

through a series of illustrations how there  is an impossibility in engaging with political  

a critic when it comes to postmodern art, how  it is all about shallowness and depthlessness,  

how there is an impossibility to talk  about what lies behind the object of art. 

But Linda Hutcheon disputes this implication  entirely and she responds to Eagleton by way of  

an analysis of his own historical novel Saints  and Scholars published in 1987. And Eagleton's  

postmodern novel becomes more important in this  context because he is a Marxist critic who has  

accused postmodern fiction of being a historical,  and the irony of the situation is that Eagleton  

has written Saints and Scholars which has  then begun to be seen as one of the seminal  

postmodern texts where we also see the paradox  of post modernism use and abuse of history. 

And in this use of Terry Eagleton we also find  la Hutcheon taking a very interesting path a  

very interesting new literary and by choosing  to analyze Eagleton's Saints and Scholars to  

disprove the Marxist critics of post modernism  to debunk the Marxist critics of post modernism,  

Linda Hutcheon also emerges a salutary  critical of victor in this context. 

And if we look at the work Saints  and Scholars by Terry Eagleton,  

it can be seen as a postmodern work of a Marxist  critic which is a quite in oxymoron. And we also  

identify Saints and Scholars is seen as one of the  typical postmodern texts for various reasons we  

find a number of periodic intertextual echoes  in the text and that there is also a sense of  

met fictional self-consciousness emerging. And in this work we can see that Eagleton  

successfully problematize is the distinction  between the fictional and real for example,  

we have certain historical characters such as  Conolly, Leopold Bloom and Ludwig Wittgenstein  

and also Nicolai Bakhtin, whose apparently  Mikhail Bakhtin's brother. Eagleton is basically  

offering as a new way of representing  history and this is not derived from  

the official account of the victors, but it is  taken from the unofficial and from the usually  

unrecorded perspectives of victims of history. And this sort of an approach that he takes towards  

history and this take of this sort of an approach  that he adopts in terms of his narratives in terms  

of the textualizing process. It also seems  to reconcile seemingly opposing positions,  

so by using Saints and scholars by Terry  Eagleton to debunk the postmodernist myths. 

Linda Hutcheon is also drawing our attention to  the fact that to collapse hierarchies is not to  

collapse distinctions, and this instantly is  also one of the major critics from the Marxist  

perspective against post modernism,  that post modernism is not attentive,  

it is not sensitive to the various forms of  distinctions which they also consider as not being  

very positive or not being very encouraging. And on the other hand Linda Hutcheon from  

a feminist perspective she argues that the  collapsing of the hierarchies need not mean the  

collapsing of distinctions and in the same way,  it is a pluralizing rhetoric of postmodernism that  

needs to be highlighted otherwise its entirely  to miss the point of what post modernism entails. 

And in her own work she talks at length about  the need to bring together the ideas of feminism  

and post modernism in order to arrive at  a more informed political critic, I read  

from her work- “ “ “Feminist practice - in theory,  criticism, and art itself- has posed new questions  

regarding the role of culture in the construction  of patriarchy. It has addressed the tacit  

definitions of gender, class, and culture that are  operative- and dominant- at any given historical  

moment. It has joined with the postmodern  moving as away from the general universal Truth,  

to specific contextualized truths. It has forced  us to see gender in relation to race, class,  

ethnicity and other forms of power relations-  not in natural, unchangeable power relations,  

but as constructed by particular social,  economic and political forces. It has overlapped  

with our postmodern concern, for exposing the  relationships between meanings produced at the  

level of culture and meanings produced at other  levels of the social formation. In other words,  

feminism in postmodernism have taught that and how  we both make and how we both make and make sense  

of our culture”. So, this is a kind of a parallel  that she draws between the feminist practices and  

also the postmodern conceptual frameworks. And in the context of her discussion of  

similar texts such as Terry Eagleton's Saints  and Scholars , Hutcheon also uses this very  

interesting phrase which she herself had coined  ‘historiographic metafiction'. She uses this term  

‘historiography metafiction' to describe those  literary texts that assert an interpretation of  

the past, but are also intensely self reflexive. And this kind of fiction, this kind of metafiction  

which uses history in a particular way, they are  also critical of their own version of truth as  

being partial, and biased and incomplete and  therein lies the self-reflexivity of the text.  

And this metafiction also has an advantage it  allows us to speak constructively about the  

past in a way that acknowledged the falsity and  violence of the objective historian’s past. So  

there is a possibility to engage with fiction, and  there is also a very real possibility of offering  

a political critique. Here we use and abuse of  history as Hutcheon puts, it comes into a play  

in different forms in historiographic metafiction. There are certain works that she herself cites as  

examples of historiographic metafiction ,such  as John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman,  

Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children The English  Patient by Michael Ondaatje. Thomas Pynchon's  

Mason and Dixon, and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughter  House Five and also A.S Byatt's Possession. 

So, all of these novels they engage with  the idea of history in a very playful way,  

they engage with the idea of history and  also give an interpretation of the past,  

but from a very fictional from a very  self-reflexive, from a point of view  

that entirely challenges history, truth and all  kinds of finality. So, this term ‘historiographic  

metafiction’ has been increasingly used  to analyze and critically engage with the  

fiction produced during the postmodern age. It is also important to run you through some  

of the other important feminist interventions of  this period. The most important one being Patricia  

Waugh's Feminine Fictions published in 1989 and  there is also the term coined by Alice Jardine,  

‘gynesis' in the context of her discussions in  opposition to the gyno critics and how the new  

term could be used to talk about the postmodern  feminist, but; however, the term and the idea  

did not get much currency as she had hoped. And we have Mary Jacobus talking about not  

the sexuality of the text, but the  textuality of sex and here we also  

find a lot of discussions relating to the body  and about the need for writing the body in the  

context of postmodern feminist's discussions. And Catherine Belsey spoke about juxtaposing  

the realist and the postmodern strategies  for a more politically effective rendition,  

more politically effective articulation of  history and of fiction, because she felt  

and argue that when you come back recognizable  realist elements of fiction and also use them to  

challenge the conventions through disruptive  strategies there is a possibility for a more  

effective kind of political strategy to emerge. And she also used the term interrogative text  

to talk about this kind of fiction, which  would use realist elements, but also certain  

subversive and disruptive strategies. Craig Owens talked about feminism as  

an instance of postmodern thought and we have  Donna Haraway who wrote A Manifesto for Cyborgs  

in 1985. So, there are two moments which are  particularly important in today's discussion for  

us, one is Patricia Waugh's Feminine Fictions  and Donna Haraway's idea of the cyborgs. So,  

we book and our discussion of postmodern feminisms  between Patricia Waugh and Donna Haraway. 

Patricia Waugh wrote this immensely popular  and important influential work titled Feminine  

Fictions revisiting the postmodern. In this  she attempted to cover the reasons why women  

writers have been a largely excluded from the  consideration of postmodern art, if we look at  

our own discussions the ways in which we had been  looking at the postmodern theories, the postmodern  

conceptual frameworks in the last couple of  weeks, we have also noted this conspicuous  

absence of women from the entire discussion. The female writers, the female thinkers  

and theorists, they are foregrounded only  when we particularly talk about feminism,  

when we particularly talk about gender.  So, with the exception of Julia kristeva  

or Judith Butler or Helene Cixous we do  not have much of a discussion of women or  

women artists in the postmodern scenario. And Patricia Waugh, also points out that  

the postmodern author is apparently represented  through the universal use of the pronoun ‘he'. And  

this is very ironic and this is very disturbing,  particularly because postmodern theorists,  

they seem to argue against the meta narratives  they seem to move away from all kinds of,  

limiting descriptions and limiting frameworks,  but at the same time it continues to be quite  

a patriarchal even when we move away  from all those structures which support  

the grand narratives such as patriarchy. And Patricia Waugh in addition also talks  

about how she had been amazed at the number of  general accounts of postmodernism which do not  

even mention gender, and this conspicuous absence  cannot be overlooked it could not be construed as  

an oversight, because it is also one of the  ways in which post modernism defines itself,  

post modernism frames itself by moving away  from all grand narratives and all kinds of  

limiting frameworks and binaries. While this sort  of an absence remains central to the discussions  

of feminism and post modernism, it is also an  important thing that we need to come back and  

engage with it is equally important to take a  look at Donna Haraway's work on cyborgs which  

also challenges the newer possibilities and  for engaging with feminism in postmodernism  

in a more systematic fashion. Donna Haraway's  work acquires a lot of significance in a culture  

of high technology, where the boundaries  are no longer clear, she talks about how  

the distinction between a human and animal,  animal and machine, or a human and a machine  

are increasingly getting blood in this age of  increase in this age of information technology. 

And she also particularly talks about the figure  of cyborgs to talk about a new kind of feminism  

which is available to us. And cyborg is a figure  without boundaries it is both human and machine,  

it is also used as a metaphor by Haraway to  talk about the socialist feminist theoretical  

interventions. And in that sense Haraway  is also arguing, she is also illustrating  

through the use of cyborgs, that it may help a  feminism theorist imagine a world that is not  

seen in or confined to hierarchical dualisms. So, by imagining a new kind of figures which  

is that of a cyborg which challenges boundaries  and distinctions, it is also giving a leeway to  

the postmodern feminist movement, because cyborgs  resists and eludes final definitions in various  

ways and this should be this Haraway argues case  like feminist theory the intention of which is  

to also avoid totalizing the category of woman. And Donna Haraway is particularly noted for two  

of her works Simians Cyborgs and  Women The Reinvention of Nature,  

and also her essay A Cyborg Manifesto which  was published in 1985 the book was in 1984. 

So, these two important works also could  be seen as a major intervention in locating  

the need for feminism and locating how feminism  operates in this age of cyborgs in this digital  

age of technology. Caught between these opposing  positions that Patricia Waugh, and Donna Haraway  

holds, its also important to look at some of the  new articulations from the feminist standpoint.  

This interesting work Sara med’s Differences that  Matters ,published in 1998 deserves a special  

mention. In this interesting work Sara med talks  about the need to challenge the existing ways of  

theorizing the relationship between feminism  and post modernism, because there are certain  

limited ways there are certain conventional  predictable ways conventional the relationship  

between feminism and postmodernism gets located . And postmodernism Sara med argues has been allowed  

to dictate certain feminist debates and she also  argues that instead of this feminism must be  

allowed to ask questions of postmodernism.  And she feels at the way ahead the way to  

go forward is also by asking these sort of  questions, and speaking back to post modernism  

from a predominantly feminist standpoint . And this speaking back entails a refusal  

to position post modernism as a generalized  condition of the world, and it also requires a  

closer reading of what post modernism is actually  doing, and in that sense why are the things that  

she proposes is to examine the construction of  post modernism in relation to, rights, ethics,  

subjectivity, authorship, metafiction, and film. So here instead of post modernism enquiring into  

how feminism functions, here is Sara med  arguing for the need to examine with the  

feminist tools how post modernism works  and what postmodernism is actually doing. 

So, it is important to locate the ambivalence  as in these different discussions,  

it is important to see the different political  positions that these discussions in the context  

of feminism in post modernism adopts and  its all the more important to understand  

how these differences these distinctions and  these opposing ideas are also inherent to our  

understanding of post modernism in literature. In this brief outline that we have given about  

feminism and postmodernism you would have also  figured out that postmodernism begins to make  

sense not as isolated kinds of theories and  concepts and frameworks, but it begins to make  

sense only when it is in dialogue, when it is in  constant dialogue with other movements such as  

Marxism and feminism. And it is also important  to see how postmodernism begins to respond to  

these other challenges which are being posited  from the Marxist from the feminist framework. 

So in that connection in the following session  we should also be taking a look at how the  

moment of the postcolonial, also informs the  understanding of the postmodernism how it also  

plays a certain new demands of post modernism,  which would radically change the conceptions  

which would also radically alter some of the  definitions that are currently in place. So,  

with this we begin to wind up today's lecture  and in the next session we shall be taking a  

look at how the postcolonial moment intervenes  and how it redefines the idea of the postmodern. 

Thank you for listening and I look  forward to seeing you in the next session.