Feminism and Literature

1. Feminism and Literature Llugdar, Patricia Pereyra, Marina LiteraryStudies II Universidad Tecnológica Nacional FRVM-Regional Villa María Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa 2012

2. FeministCriticism in Literature Organization • Key factsaboutFeminism • Lois Tyson • Stephen Bonnycastle Analysis of: • Story of anHour • PhenomenalWoman Activityonthe Wiki • BrickLane

3. Feminism and Feministtheory • WhatisFeminism? • Which are theaims of feministtheory? • Which are thebeginnings of Feminism? • Which are the modern western feminist movements?

4. Lois Tyson: CriticalTheoryToday • “Broadlydefined, feministcriticism examines theways in whichliterature (and other cultural production) reinforceorunderminetheeconomic, political, social and psichologicaloppression of women.”(Tyson, 81) • “… “habit of seeing”, a way of looking at life, that uses maleexperience as thestandard…”(Tyson,82) • Malepoint of view: universal, part of theliterary canon • “Patriarchalwoman…..a womanwho has internalizedthenorms and values of patriarchy…” (Tyson, 83) • TraditionalGender Roles • ‘Biologicalessentialism’ • Differencebetweenthewords‘gender’ and ‘sex’

5. PatriarchalIdeology • TraditionalGender Roles • American stereotypes • ClassicalFairy tales: “goodgirls” “badgirls” “Prince Charming” • Feministcriticims in movies

7. FeministPremises • Patriarcal ideologies • “…woman is other…” (Tyson, 90) • ‘phallogocentric thinking’ • ‘Sex’ and ‘Gender’ • ‘Feminist Activism’ • Gender issues in Literature

8. Getting Beyond Patriarchy Programming • Differentiating patriarchal modes of writing and ‘écriturefémenine’ • Finding contradictions in ideologies • ‘Deconstructing’ • Combining theories to be critical on schools of thoughts • Interpreting subjectively

9. 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)

10. Approachesforliterarytextanalysis “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

11. Stephen Bonnycastle:In Search of Authority • “Patriarchal order” • Sexism in Language, Literature and Criticism • Carl Jung’s view on differences between women and men

12. Story of anHourbyKate 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) BasedonBonnyclastle’stheory

13. Questionfortheclasstoanswer • 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?

14. PhenomenalWomanby 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? BasedonTyson’stheory

15. Questionfortheclasstoanswer • Whatmightanexamination of theauthor’sstylecontributetotheongoingeffortstodelineate a specificallyfeminineform of writing?

16. Activityfor Wiki: “BrickLane” • 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. Works Cited and Consulted “Feminism”. WikipediaFoundation,Inc. 21 Feb. 2012.Web. 2 Mar 2012. “Maya Angelou”. The Free DictionaryFarflex,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.