Research Guides
Literary Research: Feminist Theory
Literary Theory and Criticism
What is Feminist Theory?
"An extension of feminism’s critique of male power and ideology, feminist theory combines elements of other theoretical models such as psychoanalysis, Marxism, poststructuralism, and deconstruction to interrogate the role of gender in the writing, interpretation, and dissemination of literary texts. Originally concerned with the politics of women’s authorship and representations of women in literature, feminist theory has recently begun to examine ideas of gender and sexuality across a wide range of disciplines including film studies, geography, and even economics."
Brief Overviews:
- Feminism (Bloomsbury Handbook of Literary and Cultural Theory)
- Feminism (Routledge Companion to Critical and Cultural Theory)
- Feminist Literary Theory (Feminism in Literature: A Gale Critical Companion)
- Feminist Theory (Literary Theory Handbook)
- Feminist Theory (Oxford Research Encyclopedias)
Notable Scholars:
- Irigaray, Luce., and Margaret Whitford. The Irigaray Reader. Basil Blackwell, 1991.
- Irigaray, Luce, and Gillian Gill. Speculum of the Other Woman. Cornell University Press, 1985.
- Irigaray, Luce., and Carolyn Burke. This Sex Which Is Not One. Cornell University Press, 1985.
- Kristeva, Julia, and Toril. Moi. The Kristeva Reader. Basil Blackwell, 1986.
- Kristeva, Julia, et al. Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art. Columbia University Press, 1980.
- Millett, Kate. Sexual Politics. Doubleday, 1970.
- Nash, Jennifer C. Birthing Black Mothers. Duke University Press, 2021.
- Nash, Jennifer C. The Black Body in Ecstasy: Reading Race, Reading Pornography. Duke University Press, 2014.
- Nash, Jennifer C. Black Feminism Reimagined: After Intersectionality. Duke University Press, 2019.
- Sharpe, Christina Elizabeth. In the Wake: In Blackness and Being. Duke University Press, 2016.
- Sharpe, Christina Elizabeth. Monstrous Intimacies: Making Post-Slavery Subjects. Duke University Press, 2010.
- Showalter, Elaine. A Literature of Their Own: British Women Novelists from Brontèˆ to Lessing. Princeton University Press, 1999.
- Spillers, Hortense J. Black, White, and in Color: Essays on American Literature and Culture. University of Chicago Press, 2003.
- Pryse, Marjorie, and Hortense J. Spillers. Conjuring: Black Women, Fiction, and Literary Tradition. Indiana University Press, 1985.
Introductions & Anthologies
The Cambridge Companion to Feminist Literary TheoryFeminism has dramatically influenced the way literary texts are read, taught and evaluated... This lively and thought-provoking Companion presents a range of approaches to the field. Some of the essays demonstrate feminist critical principles at work in analysing texts, while others take a step back to trace the development of a particular feminist literary method.
Feminisms Redux: An Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism Robyn Warhol-Down and Diane Price Herndl have joined together once more to provide academics and general readers with a newly revised and indispensable collection of essays representing the range of feminist literary criticism... The range of essays focuses not only on gender and sex, but also on sexuality, race, class, nationality, and (dis)ability, and the intersections among these categories as they play out in writing by and about women.
Feminist Theory, Women's WritingIn this rewarding book, Laurie A. Finke challenges assumptions about gender, the self, and the text which underlie fundamental constructs of contemporary feminist theory.
A History of Feminist Literary CriticismThis 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.
The New Feminist Literary StudiesThe New Feminist Literary Studies presents sixteen essays by leading and emerging scholars that examine contemporary feminism and the most pressing issues of today... The third section, 'Forms', is dedicated to literary genres and tackles novels of domesticity, feminist dystopias, young adult fiction, feminist manuals and manifestos, memoir, and poetry.
The Routledge Companion to IntersectionalitiesThe Routledge Companion to Intersectionalities is a dynamic reference source to the key contemporary analytic in feminist thought: intersectionality.
Also see other recent eBooks discussing or using feminist theory in literature and scholar-recommended sources on Julia Kristeva and Luce Irigaray via Oxford Bibliographies.
Definition from: "Feminist Theory." Glossary of Poetic Terms. Poetry Foundation.(24 July 2023)