Interpretive Theory of Feminism - Literature review Example

Interpretive Theory Part Question Barthes in his story the death of the says, “Though the empire is stillvery powerful, it is evident for a long time now certain writers have attempted to topple it” (Roland Barthes pg 1). Barthes argues that some authors are trying to fight authors empire even though they should not. The author believes that language is the most important thing in writing and not the author. For that reason, authors that have tried to substitute authorship with their titles and names have no future, and that is why Barthes argues that they should do away with authors. On the other hand, Foucault agrees with Barthes on issues of authors individualization. In his article what is an author, Foucault says, “The coming into being of the notion constitutes the privileged moment of individualization in the history if ideas, knowledge, literature, philosophy, and the sciences” (Foucault Reader pg 106). Foucault argues that recent forms of writing do not have any dimension of expression leading to the death of authors since authors are only referring to themselves. The author further argues that writing has metamorphosed to an extent that authors are writing their individual characteristics. The authors also agree on the fact that most writers are not leaving behind their original pieces of work arguing that most of the recent authors are engaging in plagiarism. It is for this reason that Barthes argues that modern writers are born with the text in mind and therefore do not take the time to take learn from previous writers. Those are some of the reasons that authors are arguing that authorship is dying and killing modern literature. Question 3 Kolodny in her articles dancing through the minefield argues that, “male presence in some of the canonical authors was jut but an accident of history and that was not intentionally sexist” (Annette Kolodny pg 2147). The author argues that the success in feminism in the field of literature has been due to the return in circulation of women literary works that had been ignored. The author embraces the fact that the return of the women to the field of literature helped in putting male writers under a lot of scrutinies. For this reason, the author decry the idea that a change in literature depends on how the society changes and therefore is only determined by the upheavals of the social, economic organizations that are representing our culture. The author is more concerned with how we view the past and how it influences feminism. For example, the author argues that women are not just supposed to read the classic books as a way of recreating the past. That is because most of us were not present during the authors time, and we cannot depend on such occurrences to prove the literary skills. The author also believes that the other reason behind pluralism and feminism lack of approach is due to our interpretation of past. For example, the author argues that the literary history is fiction that we end up creating in our daily activities while reading our feminist desires hence alter the extent of our understanding. For this reason, there is a need to change the reading culture so that we can make reading an exciting affair by relearning and redefining it. The author blames feminism from the fact that male authors refused to get and understand any message from women pieces of art. The author also believes that male writers have a chance of becoming better readers and writers if they acknowledge works done by their female counterparts. In conclusion, Kolodny says that must a redefinition on the norms and values that evaluate critical examination and evaluation of arts. Question 4 Patricia Waugh in her article from Modernism, Postmodernism, and Feminism acknowledges the fact that feminism is attached to the enlightenment of modernity. The author says, “It is clear that contemporary women writers are unlikely to share the nostalgia for Dostoevsky’s representation of life and character” (Patricia Waugh pg 6). Patricia Waugh challenges that weak postmodernism is better compared to what is known as postmodernism. According to the author, weak postmodernism has several advantages because it arises from the practices, customs, believes, traditions that may lead to a shared value structure. The other advantage related to the weak postmodernism is that it is more open to the struggles of liberation of the feminist movement. That is because weak postmodernism reject outright relativism since it has what is called ethical basis for construction of alternative politics. The author also rejects that form of identity crisis where western patriarchy is still dominant. Waugh in her article postmodernism argues that the absence of women writers in the postmodern era ranging from 1960-1980 is due to various reasons such as economic, social, psychological, political and even esthetic factors. Question 6 Both Dyer Richard and Elaine Showalter agree on the notion that authorship is important and hence should be resurrected. According to Dyer, “authorship is important especially in film making since authorship shows how just and profound the author is” (Richard Dyer pg 170). For that reason, the author believes that authorship is important in understanding the value in art and how the author has mobilized familiar arguments in relation to a couple of art. The author further suggests that authorship is what led to the classification of films as art. On the other hand, Elaine Showalter champions authorship majorly on the female side arguing that, “it is an analysis or a framework that develops new models according to the female experience” (Elaine Showalter pg1130). Both authors agree that authorship in important for social identity and articulation of artistic work. However, Showalter argues from the women point of view and says that authorship cannot be eliminated especially since it is a tool used by women for alienation of past injustices. Besides the cinema, authorship plays a vital role in identity and social recognition according to the authors. Both writers also argue against exploitation of authors that exist in the film industry where the directors of the film assume the creativity of the film even though they have not played major role in creativity must stop only by authorship. The same is seen in the media industry where publications assume the major role while overlooking the author of the media. For this reason, authorship is important mainly for identity and social functions. Question 7 Andrew Lakritz on his article identification and difference begins by saying.” I want to connect the double bind- a writer who is marginalized in his culture and writes a powerful critique of that culture but who later becomes a champion as a major cultural voice by the academy” (Andrew Lakritz pg 179). Cases of marginalization of characters have been common in the field of literature. Many authors especially of the black origin have been marginalized since they are writing in a different language that is far from English. The other problem is that the marginalized writers suffer from identity due to race. However, it must be understood that it does not matter who is writing or the language that is writing but the kind of message delivered by the author. That has already been discussed in one of the questions above by Foucault. For this reason, it is important for the authors both professional and oppressed to understand their personality. Lakritz warns against the notion of marginalization. For example, if one author is elite then, they have the obligation of developing empathy for the oppressed. Such kind of feelings threatens the field of literature and should be dealt with. The author agrees on the fact that there is a need to understand that words should not be called a book. The author gives an example of those authors that write books about people of a different culture whom they do not share any socio economic and cultural terms. The author, therefore, feels that when marginalization of authors happen it is an advantage to some the field of literature since it is the basis for positive criticism. On the other hand, it is not positive since marginalization is based on the race and skin color. Part 2 Question 2 In the past and also in the modern world women continue to face a lot of racism and alienation in the political and social arena. That does not mean that women have not been left behind even in the field of arts and literature. However, there have been signs of women fighting for their rights in all the spheres of the world. That can be confirmed through different literature written by women and about women. Besides that, author’s mainly female authors have developed feminist theories as they try to drive home their points. That can be traced in some of the works done by Showalter, Kolodny, Haraway, Waugh, and Cixous. This paper will, therefore, trace some of the feminist theories discussed by the above-mentioned authors and reveal their fight against feminism. The paper also gives conclusions and recommendations on how women should be viewed in their society and their value to the society. Showalter develops feminist theories mainly concerned with the revival of authorship. The author argues that authorship is important in how the female authors are perceived and identified. The author questions the manner in which female artists are treated. In one of her article, Showalter questions “why are women authors undervalued in the way they write and how they read” . The author argues that it is important for the male counterparts to read and value works written by female authors and avoid discrimination. In addition, the author wants the revival of authorship since it is the only way female authors can fight for their gender roles in this modern society. The author further questions on who decides for women the right subject matter for the stories they write or what kind of books written by the females should be published. The author concludes by arguing that what a man can do women can do even better. Similar complements have been shared by other authors such as Kolodny. Kolodny in her theory revisit feminism lack of coherences and its pluralistic approaches. Kolodny argues specifically about women literature. In one of her works the author argues that literature is a social institution that is not only embedded with literary traditions, but also with physical and mental artifacts of the society. The author questions why language use and language acquisition is not gender neutral. The author also further questions why male authors fail to incorporate female literary works in the canons of major authors. The author believes that such kind of attitudes have forced women to wrestle and consequently conform to what their male counterparts view as right. That is why the author named her article negotiating in the minefield. The author argues that women have a lot of diversity and energy that can encode and disseminate various cultural values in the society. The lingering question asked by the author is why women scholars dedicated to rediscovering lost body of writing are being questioned on esthetic grounds. The author also argues why literature produced by women is considered to be narrow, and their results considered distorted or polemical yet they are practicing revisionist kind of reading. The other feminist theorist is Helen Cixous. The author begins by saying that women have been driven violently out of writing. She however reiterates that women must go back to writing. The author dismisses the fact that the future must certainly be decided by the past even though that is important to some extent. Cixous questions why women have not been writing insisting that writing is meant for women. “Writing is for you, your body is yours, take it I know why you havent written. " The author argues against the negative attitude that women have developed; the attitude that writing is about great men only. "I did not write before the age of 27 because writing is at once too high, too great for you it is reserved for the great men and that, is silly" (Helen Cixous pg 1232). That is a negative attitude that the author rejects. Donna Haraway in her article a cyborg of manifesto is a socialist feminist fighting against rigid boundaries that separate the identity of women and therefore advocates affinity of the female gender. The word cyborg is an indication of the feminist movement that she wishes that would thrive against gender and politics (Haraway pg 341). Haraway hopes that they can reach the utopian dream where the world exists without gender discrimination. The author’s argument in the manifesto is to challenge the necessity for categorization of gender. However, the feminist’s theorists fail to correlate her argument to postgenderism. Question 3 Women in the modern world continue to face a lot of discrimination in terms of the kind of literature they produce. Most of the literary works produced by female artists have been prejudiced and dismissed on assumptions that they are distorted or too shallow. That has seen most of the literary works done by women fail to be incorporated in the great authors canon. Other artists view the fact that authorship has been affected, and it is leading to the death of literary works. Such authors include Foucault and Barthes who believe that Authorship Empire has led to a negative contribution to the modern kind of literature in production. On the contrary, authors like Dyer and Showalter believes that authorship is important especially in fighting feminism and prejudice in the field of writing. The paper highlights some of the contributions of the authors on the two sides of the discussion. Showalter believes that retaining identity in particular to feminism is important for the female fraternity as they try to fight gender imbalance and insensitivity. On the other hand, Barthes argues that authorship has led to a decline in the kind of literature produced. That is because many authors seek to prioritize their individuality rather than the content they are willing to give their audience. For that reason, the literature produced is incoherent and lack deep analysis of the theme. In addition, due to individualization in the authorship empire, most writers fail to do the literature review about the topics they are covering according to Barthes and Foucault. On the contrary, Dyer feels that authorship and identification is very important especially in the field of film production. The author argues that it is only through authorship that films have been categorized as art. Moreover, films contain a lot of creativities that is admired by many. The author warns that the death of authorship is gradually leading to directors of the filming claiming the popularity in most films produced as the authors themselves languish in poverty. That kind of exploitation is what Dyer is fighting against. Showalter also reinforces Dyers sentiments arguing that it is only through authorship that the female will earn social identity. It must be noted that identity and authorship continues to eat into feminism. That is because many female literature produced are judged not according to professionalism but according to gender. Showalter points out at some of the issues that have led to the marginalization of some artists. The author argues that it is only through identity that such kind of injustices can be addressed. Haraway also argues on some traditional feminism that is placing women above men. Such kind of women ends up living in what Haraway describes as privileged epistemological potential lives. Haraway believes that a feminist can live a life beyond naturalism and essentialism. By that the author wishes that the issue of identity politics be excluded in order to progress in strategically oriented identities. The author argues that women are required to develop a sense of identity and recognition that will fight for their sense of unity, selfhood, coherent and effective identity. The author points out on some of the issues related to marginalization of women. The author argues that it is only the civilization that determines what a woman can become in the society. For that reason, civilization from 1960-1980 is responsible for displacing the women in the society. The author, therefore, affirms that feminism has greatly been affected by postmodernism. It is for this reason that the author chooses weak postmodernism as a solution. That is because weak post modernism is important in unifying the women and understanding their social values. The author says that most of the women literary works have been based on discovering a collective responsibility and construction of identity relationships. Lakritz, on the other hand, argues that identification and authorship causes marginalization. However, the author is discriminatory in the fact that he wishes people of color to disown their culture and use English as a media for communication. However, the author has been criticized for being a racist in the manner in which he presents his works. It must be noted that authorship is a form of identity that collect people of the same race and culture together as well as unifying the world. The paper concludes on by agreeing that identity and authorship is important as the pros are much heavier than the cons. In addition, it is a form of culture preservation as well as a form of unity and collectivity. Works Cited Andrew Lakritz. Identification and Difference: Structure and Privilege in Cultural Criticism. Chicago: Wiegman, 1995. Annette Kolodny. Dancing through the Minefield. New York: Basic Books, 1978. Elaine Showalter. Towards a Feminist Poetics. New York: Routledge, 1976. Foucault Reader. What is an Author. New York: Pantheon Books, 1984. Haraway, Donna. The Haraway Reader. New York: Routledge, 2004. Helen Cixous. The Rhetorical Tradition. St Martins: Herzberg, 1990. Patricia Waugh. Revisiting the postmodern. New York: Routledge, 1989. Richard Dyer. The Author and the Homosexual. New York: Kegan Paul, 1979. Roland Barthes. The Death of the Author. New York: Oxford, 1967. Read More