Critical Approache to
Literature: Feminism
FEMINIST CRITICAL APPROACH
What I am going to do in this paper is to explain a
critical approach, obviously understanding it. After some readings of the different
critical approaches, I have chosen the feminist one, because it seems to me
interesting and especially I wanted to know how these critics treat this
critical approach from their point of view.
First of all, I think that it would be
adequately introduce or define this critical approach. A clear definition of
what feminism approach is would be: “feminist criticism is by definition gender
criticism because of its focus on the feminine gender. But the relationship
between feminist and gender criticism is, in fact, complex; the two approaches
are certainly not polar opposites but, rather, exist along a continuum of
attitudes toward sex, sexuality, gender, and language”. (VirtuaLit).
Feminist critical approach appeared with almost no
importance. But in the late 1970s feminist criticism became a dominant force in
Western literary studies, when feminist theory more broadly conceived was
applied to linguistic and literary matters. Since the early 1980s, feminist
literary criticism has developed and diversified in a number of ways and is now
characterized by a global perspective. (VirtuaLit).
Feminism is concerned with differences and
marginalization of women and it believes that our culture is a patriarchal
culture, that is, one organized in favour of the interests of men. But being
female does not necessarily mean one holds a feminist view; nor does being male
have to prohibit one form adopting a feminist critical or social approach, at
least in the minds of some feminists. The same occurs with female, she can have
another point of view of this issue, I mean, that both female and male are free
in their thoughts and opinions.
(Approaches to Literature).
On one hand, feminist approaches literature with a
special regard to the feminine consciousness; women are portrayed socially,
politically, sexually, economically, and religiously, especially in a society
with a male hegemony. On the other hand, feminists try to examine the
experiences of women from all races and classes, including, black, Hispanic,
Asian, lesbian, handicapped, elderly and
Although interested in the subject of feminine
language and writing, North American feminist critics of the 1970s and early
1980s began by analyzing literary texts. One group practiced "feminist
critique, which is focused on the female reader. Another group practiced
"gynocriticism", which emphasizes difference in the female writer.
British feminist critics regarded their own critical practice as more political
than that of North American feminists, emphasizing an engagement with
historical process in order to promote social change. (VirtuaLit).
Today’s critics focus on "woman" as a
relatively monolithic category; they view "women" as members of
different societies with different concerns. Feminists of colour, Third World
feminists, and lesbian feminists have stressed that women are not defined only
by the fact that they are female; other attributes, such as religion, class,
and sexual orientation, are also important, making the problems and goals of one
group of women different from another. (VirtuaLit).
During all these years, different waves of feminism
have existed. On the wave model, the struggle
to achieve basic political rights during the period from the mid-19th century
until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 counts as "First
Wave" feminism. Feminism waned between the two world wars, to be
"revived" in the late 1960's and early 1970's as "Second
Wave" feminism. In this wave, feminists advanced beyond the early quest
for political rights to fight for greater equality across the board. For
example: in education, the workplace, and at home. More recent transformations
of feminism have resulted in a "Third Wave". This movement began in
the early 1990s and it often critiques Second Wave feminism for its lack of
attention to the differences among women due to race, ethnicity, class,
nationality, religion and emphasize identity as a site of gender struggle.
(Topics in Feminism).
If we observe the difference of years that exists between
the three feminism waves, we can think that another wave, probably, will be
coming, or maybe this wave will be the last. During the waves that have
existed, I think, that it has had a lot of people that have followed these
thoughts, and also a lot of people do not. There are some critics that have
been important in feminism. For example: belonging to the “First Wave” in the
United Kingdom, Mary Wollstonecraft, who published the first feminist treatise A Vindication of the Rights of Women
(1792). In the United States, leaders of this movement include Elizabeth Cady
Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, who each campaigned for the abolition of slavery;
other important leaders were Lucy Stone, Olympia Brown and Helen Pitts. In the
“Second Wave” I have could read that a lot of colleges promoted feminist
critical approach. Finally, and the “Third Wave” and the most resent Rebecca
Walker is a leader. ( First- wave feminism, Second- wave feminism, Third- wave
feminism- wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
Feminism, such as other critical approaches, had
importance in the poetry. In the papers that I have already done, I think that
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, is the author that best fits in this critique. Venus
Verticordia, the poem and painting that I analyzed, could be critiqued by a
feminist critic, since this author only
observes the superficial woman’s things,
I mean, the body, the beauty, but he does not care what the woman feels,
thinks. Rossetti does not appreciate the woman as a normal person, as a human.
From my point of view and by the readings that I have already done, I
understand that a feminist critique this and also the fact that the woman
appears naked.
In my opinion, feminism is so radical, you have to be
open to the world and have a balance between all, although I am conscious that
everyone has the freedom to appreciate the world as he or she wanted. This
critical approach has seemed to me interesting, it refers generally to how women are treated in the
society, and I could learn and define the
doubts that I have about the critical approaches, especially feminism, which I
have treated more in detail. It is
interesting to study different points of view, in this case of critical
approaches, because you can chose important details that convinced you or that
like you only.
by Merce Quiralte Moragues.
(25 May 2006)
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Webpages:
- VirtuaLit: Critical
Approaches. Murfin, Ross and Ray, Supriya M. Last Modified 23 November 2005.
Visited 21 May 2006.
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/Virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_femin.html
- A Few Critical Approaches to
Literature. Davis, Jeffry. Visited 23 May 2006.
http://www.wheaton.edu/english/faculty/davis/guidance_for_students/approaches.html
- Topics in Feminism.
webmaster@plato.stanford.edu. Last Modified 2006. Visited 23 May 2006.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-topics/
- First- wave feminism- wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Wikimedia foundations. Last Modified 16 April 2006. Visited 22
May 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_wave_feminism
- Second-wave feminism- wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Wikimedia foundations. Last Modified 13 May 2006. Visited 22 May
2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-wave_feminism
- Third- wave feminism- wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Wikimedia foundations. Last Modified 3 May 2006. Visited 22 May
2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-wave_feminism
Books:
- A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. Wilfred
L. Guerin.
Academic year 2005/2006
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
© Merce Quiralte Moragues
mamerqui@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de València Press