Feminist Literary Criticism An Overview

Fem Lit Crit is not . . . About man-hating Mostly explored by lesbians About women wanting to oppress men An outdated perspective because women have achieved gender equity – they have not

Fem Lit Crit is . . . An examination of power structures and systems in society in order to deconstruct these ideologies A critical perspective on literature that seeks to understand and expose all forms of oppression, especially gender An understanding that our society is based on patriarchy (male-dominated) which therefore determines that which is valued A belief that society is organized to benefit/support men.

Fem Lit Crit Definition Robert DiYanni explains that “[F]eminist criticism, like Marxist and new historical criticism, examines the social, economic and cultural aspects of literary works, but especially for what those works reveal about the role, position, and influence of women. Feminist critics also see literature as an arena in which to contest for power and control, since as sociological critics, feminist critics also see literature as an agent of social transformation” (2175).

“A Checklist of Feminist Critical Questions To what extent does the representation of women (and men) in the work reflect the place and time in which the work was written? How are the relations between men and women, or those between members of the same sex, presented in the work? What roles do men and women assume and perform and with what consequence?

Does the author present the work from a predominantly male or female sensibility? Why might this have been done, and with what effects? How do the facts of the author’s life relate to the presentation of men and women in the work? To their relative degrees of power? How do other works by the author correspond to this one in their depiction of the power relationships between men and women?” (2175-2176)

Works Cited DiYanni, Robert Works Cited DiYanni, Robert. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama. New York: McGraw Hill, 2007. Print.