Feminist Literary Criticism: Key Concepts and Theorists

The Main Goal of Feminist Criticism

The main goal of feminist criticism is to make visible and erase women’s oppression in a patriarchal society by drawing attention to its representation in literature.

French Feminism: Basic Principles

French feminism seeks to define an écriture féminine on the basis of the psychological “politics” of language itself. If language belongs not to women but to a masculine social order, the distinctive female literary strategy will be to subvert it.

French vs. British Feminist Criticism

• British Feminist Criticism: Although drawing upon both American and French approaches, it has usually been more historical and sociological.
• French Feminist Criticism: It is primarily based on the psychological “politics” of language itself.

Key Texts and Authors

• Who wrote A Room of One's Own? Virginia Woolf
• Who wrote Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex)? Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir on Becoming a Woman

In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir famously states in relation to femininity: “One is not born, but rather becomes a woman.”

Post-1968 Feminist Literary Response

Amid the cultural ferment of the post-1968 period, especially in the United States, the misogynist attitudes of male critics and novelists were subjected to intense scrutiny in two key works:

• To ironic scrutiny in Mary Ellmann’s Thinking about Women (1968).
• To iconoclastic rage in Kate Millett’s Sexual Politics (1970).

Kate Millett's Sexual Politics (1970)

Kate Millett’s 1970 work, Sexual Politics, is defined as feminist criticism, encompassing “literary and cultural criticism.”

It takes into account the larger cultural context in which literature is conceived and produced. The cover states it is “the landmark work that is breaking the tyranny of sexual roles.”

Masculinist Narratives of Femininity

The Masculinist “narrative of femininity” seeks to situate and dominate femininity by producing certain female stereotypes, including: Eve, the Virgin Mary, the witch, etc.

Rooney's Aims of Feminist Literary Theory

According to Rooney, feminist literary theory aims to:

1. Denaturalize the subordination of women within the family.
2. Disclose the sexual myths of feminine passivity.
3. Erase normative heterosexuality.
4. Focus on literary canons to include women.
5. Study the relations between gender and genre, or the matter of a “feminine style.”

Alliances in 1980s Feminist Criticism

By the 1980s, feminist criticism allied itself with other types of criticism, including:

• Marxist criticism
• Psychoanalytic criticism
• Post-structuralism (especially)

The Field Day Anthology Scandal (1990)

When The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing (1990) was published, a scandal erupted because the volumes included major names in Irish literature history but very few women writers. Consequently, two extra volumes were added to the collection to include Irish female writers.

Authors of A History of Feminist Literary Criticism

A History of Feminist Literary Criticism was written by Gill Plain and Susan Sellers.