A History of Feminist Literary Criticism

Cambridge University Press, 8/30/2007
EAN 9780521852555, ISBN10: 0521852552

Hardcover, 364 pages, 22.9 x 16.1 x 2.9 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English

Feminism has transformed the academic study of literature, fundamentally altering the canon of what is taught and setting new agendas for literary analysis. In this authoritative history of feminist literary criticism, leading scholars chart the development of the practice from the Middle Ages to the present. The first section of the book explores protofeminist thought from the Middle Ages onwards, and analyses the work of pioneers such as Wollstonecraft and Woolf. The second section examines the rise of second-wave feminism and maps its interventions across the twentieth century. A final section examines the impact of postmodernism on feminist thought and practice. This book offers a comprehensive guide to the history and development of feminist literary criticism and a lively reassessment of the main issues and authors in the field. It is essential reading for all students and scholars of feminist writing and literary criticism.

Introduction Gill Plain and Susan Sellers
Part I. Pioneers and Protofeminism
Introduction Gill Plain
1. Medieval feminist criticism Carolyn Dinshaw
2. Feminist criticism in the Renaissance and seventeenth century Helen Wilcox
3. Mary Wollstonecraft and her legacy Susan Manly
4. The feminist criticism of Virginia Woolf Jane Goldman
5. Simone de Beauvoir and the demystification of woman Elizabeth Fallaize
Part II. Creating a Feminist Literary Criticism
Introduction Gill Plain and Susan Sellers
6. Literary representations of women Mary Eagleton
7. A history of women's writing Helen Carr
8. Autobiography and personal criticism Linda Anderson
9. Black feminist criticism Arlene Keizer
10. Lesbian feminist criticism Caroline Gonda
11. Men in feminism Calvin Thomas
Part III. Poststructuralism and Beyond
Introduction Gill Plain and Susan Sellers
12. Feminist criticism and poststructuralism Claire Colebrook
13. Feminist criticism and psychoanalysis Madelon Sprengnether
14. French feminist criticism and writing the body Judith Still
15. Postcolonial feminist criticism Chris Weedon
16. Feminist criticism and queer theory Heather Love
17. Feminist criticism and technologies of the body Stacy Gillis
Postscript
flaming feminism? Susan Gubar
Bibliography.