ACL 1001 |
Lecture 8 |
Definition of Feminism It is a political perception based on two fundamental premises: Female, Feminine, Feminist
Literature What does the study of literature have to do with these political and ethical debates?
According to Ellen Rooney (2006), feminist literary theory and feminist novels are concerned with
Feminists and the Literary Canon Feminists
Feminism and the Novel What is a novel? Ask for definitions/ideas Among many things a novel is an imagined community which bears relations to real communities but never actually is a real community. A novel is therefore a space for experimentation. Where an author can give ideas an airing � imagine new ways of thinking, new kinds of social relations, new kinds of power structures. The novel is �the extended exploration of individual characters' consciousness through the imagination, that is of distinctive value in extending feminist understanding' At every stage of its development, feminism needs understanding of women's changing consciousness; the novel is an essential means of alerting us, sensitising us and enhancing our use of the imagination to this end (Thornton, 2006, p. 39) Importance of the Novel to Feminism But the novel also needs to be located in a � real' time and place.
Reading Cat's Eye is dependent on an understanding of time and place of its setting i.e 1940s/1980s Canada; the history of colonialism etc Cat's Eye The novel is narrated by its protagonist, Elaine Risley. It operates via flashbacks from the present to the past and vice versa; from Elaine's present as a middle-aged artist to her childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. It centres around a retrospective of Elaine's art which explores the intersections between art and life, and enables her to deal with the trauma of her childhood and also the social expectations of women in the 1940s. Cat's Eye � a feminist novel? Cat's Eye fits with the concerns of feminist projects both fictional and non-fictional. However, it does not offer a simplistic or stereotyped approach to feminist thinking; its protagonist is complex in the way she engages with and rejects aspects of feminism. The novel questions and challenges the gender binary male/female; masculine/feminine. It does this through an examination of the process of gender socialisation. Socialisation Socialisation is the process through which we are taught to behave in ways society considers acceptable. Socialisation is based on the understanding that there are two distinct genders with social roles attached to them e.g men � breadwinners; women � mothers/housewives In Cat's Eye , the family, the education system and the church, three main agents of socialisation, are criticized for creating gender divisions within society and for �normalising' the sex-role stereotypes to which men and women in 1940s Canada were expected to adhere. The Family The novel explores the social roles for men and women pre and post World War 2. By focusing on the families of Elaine and her female �friends', the novel presents a picture of the patriarchal family structure in order to critique it. The novel explores issues of power within the family; the division between the public (read: masculine) sphere of work and the private (read: feminine) sphere of the home; and the links between the socialisation of girls and the rise of consumerist culture in the post-war era. Female Friendships Elaine's �friendship' with Cordelia, Grace, and Carol highlights the way in which children replicate the power dynamic shown to them by adults, particularly within the family unit; it also shows the way in which girls tend to use relational aggression to wield power over each other. The trauma of Elaine's socialisation into the world of girls impacts on her future relationships with women (she usually feels uncomfortable and unsafe), leads her to view the world of girls with contempt, and renders her unable (to some extent) to feel empathy for other women (thus complicating her foray into second wave feminism later in life, and her designation as a feminist artist). Difference In order to question the extent to which gender is �natural', Atwood contrasts Elaine's family with the families of her friends; she also points out the way in which Elaine and her brother are more similar than different prior to entering the gendered environment of the school. The novel also draws on the issue of racial difference e.g the character of Mr Banerji to make a point about being considered �the other' in an homogenous environment, whether that be based on gender, class, or cultural norms. Second Wave Feminism Elaine's career as an artist is contrasted with that of her male counterparts, such as Mr Hrbik and Jon, whose attitudes to women shape her thinking about femininity and feminism. The novel explores the discrimination against female artists in Toronto 's art world, and uses this as a metonym for the public sphere in general. While Elaine joins a feminist consciousness-raising group, she expresses her discomfort and scepticism about the feminist movement and its aims, particularly its notion of sisterhood based on an homogenous notion of feminism. |