Beyond Feminist Aesthetics: Feminist Literature and Social Change / Edition 1

by Rita Felski

Overview

Beyond Feminist Aesthetics has a dual focus. First, Rita Felski gives a critical account of current American and European feminist literary theory, and second, she offers an analysis of contemporary fiction by women, drawing in particular on the genres of the autobiographical confession and the novel of self-discovery, in order to show that this literature raises questions for feminism that cannot be answered in terms of a purely gender based analysis.

Felski argues that the idea of a feminist aesthetic is a nonissue that feminists have needlessly pursued; she suggests, in contrast, that it is impossible to speak of “masculine” and “feminine,” “subversive” and “reactionary” literary forms in isolation from the social conditions of their production and reception. The political value of such works of literature from the standpoint of feminism can be determined only by an investigation of their social functions and effects in relation to the interests of women in a particular historical context. This leads her to argue for an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of literature which can integrate literary and social theory, and to develop such an approach by drawing upon the model of a feminist counter-public sphere.

Rita Felski has produced a closely reasoned, stimulating book that creates a new framework for discussing the relationship between literature and feminist politics. It will interest students and teachers of women’s studies, comparative literature, cultural studies, and fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674068957
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	01/01/1989
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Rita Felski is William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of English at the University of Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

Exciting, fresh, and persuasive in its thought from the very first page… The combination of sources from the American, British, French, and German feminist literary and critical canons offers a uniquely comprehensive overview of theoretical and political issues in feminist criticism… Rita Felski places her powerful and original view of feminist literature in the rich contexts of contemporary Marxist and narrative theory, but her learning is unostentatious, always a model of clarity rather than obfuscation or intimidation.

Elaine Showalter

This is a remarkably assured, deeply intelligent piece of work… The [book] combines an attractive rigor of argument with a lucidity that is rare.

Terry Eagleton