Hama Lakhdar University of ELoued
Faculty of Arts and Foreign languages
Department of English
Teacher : Dr. Afaf Mega
Feminist Literary Criticism
https://www.thoughtCo.com/feminist-literary-criticism
By
Linda Napikoski
Updated on February 06, 2020
Accessed : 31.03.2024
Feminist literary criticism (also known as feminist criticism) is the literary analysis
that arises from the viewpoint of feminism, feminist theory, and/or feminist politics.
Critical Methodology
A feminist literary critic resists traditional assumptions while reading a text. In
addition to challenging assumptions which were thought to be universal, feminist
literary criticism actively supports including women's knowledge in literature and
valuing women's experiences. The aims of feminist literary criticism include:
Embodying or Undercutting Stereotypes: Feminist literary criticism
recognizes that literature both reflects and shapes stereotypes and other
cultural assumptions. Thus, feminist literary criticism examines how works of
literature embody patriarchal attitudes or undercut them, sometimes both
happening within the same work. By examining the way female characters are
defined, critics challenge the male-centered outlook of authors. Feminist
literary criticism suggests that women in literature have been historically
presented as objects seen from a male perspective.
Reevaluating literature and the world in which literature is read: By
revisiting the classic literature, the critic can question whether society has
predominantly valued male authors and their literary works because it has
valued males more than females.
Feminist theory and various forms of feminist critique began long before the
formal naming of the school of literary criticism. In so-called first-wave
feminism, the "Woman's Bible," written in the late 19th century by Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, is an example of a work of criticism firmly in this school,
looking beyond the more obvious male-centered outlook and interpretation.
During the period of second-wave feminism, academic circles increasingly
challenged the male literary canon. Feminist literary criticism has since
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intertwined with postmodernism and increasingly addresses complex
questions of gender and societal roles.
Tools of the Feminist Literary Critic
Feminist literary criticism may bring in tools from other critical disciplines, such as
historical analysis, psychology, linguistics, sociological analysis, and economic
analysis. Feminist criticism may also look at intersectionality, looking at how factors
including race, sexuality, physical ability, and class are also involved.
Feminist literary criticism may use any of the following methods:
Deconstructing the way that women characters are described in novels, stories,
plays, biographies, and histories, especially if the author is male
Deconstructing how one's own gender influences how one reads and interprets
a text, and which characters and how the reader identifies depending on the
reader's gender
Deconstructing how women autobiographers and biographers of women treat
their subjects, and how biographers treat women who are secondary to the
main subject
Describing relationships between the literary text and ideas about power and
sexuality and gender
Critique of patriarchal or woman-marginalizing language, such as a
"universal" use of the masculine pronouns "he" and "him"
Noticing and unpacking differences in how men and women write: a style, for
instance, where women use more reflexive language and men use more direct
language.
Reclaiming women writers who are little known or have been marginalized or
undervalued, sometimes referred to as expanding or criticizing the canon—the
usual list of "important" authors and works (Examples include raising up the
contributions of early playwright Aphra Behn and showing how she was
treated differently than male writers from her own time forward.
Reclaiming the "female voice" as a valuable contribution to literature, even if
formerly marginalized or ignored
Analyzing multiple works in a genre as an overview of a feminist approach to
that genre: for example, science fiction or detective fiction
Analyzing multiple works by a single author (often female)
Examining how relationships between men and women and those assuming
male and female roles are depicted in the text, including power relations
Examining the text to find ways in which patriarchy is resisted or could have
been resisted
Feminist literary criticism is distinguished from gynocriticism because feminist
literary criticism may also analyze and deconstruct literary works of men.
Gynocriticism
Gynocriticism, or gynocritics, refers to the literary study of women as writers. It is a
critical practice exploring and recording female creativity. Gynocriticism attempts to
understand women’s writing as a fundamental part of female reality. Some critics now
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use “gynocriticism” to refer to the practice and “gynocritics” to refer to the
practitioners.
American literary critic Elaine Showalter coined the term "gynocritics" in her 1979
essay “Towards a Feminist Poetics.” Unlike feminist literary criticism, which might
analyze works by male authors from a feminist perspective, gynocriticism wanted to
establish a literary tradition of women without incorporating male authors. Showalter
felt that feminist criticism still worked within male assumptions, while gynocriticism
would begin a new phase of women’s self-discovery.
