1. Literary (Cultural) Theory
Feminism & Postcolonialism

2. Some General Observations
Theory
Some General Observations

3. Theory Nothing “right” or “wrong” about different theories
Ways of looking at the world
Ways of reinterpreting the human experience
Lenses through which to view cultural artifacts
Theories borrow from each other
Rarely does a scholar use only one theory

4. Feminism

5. Feminism Main concern Trends cultural context of texts and cultures
male/female power struggle in texts and cultures
othering
Trends
study of difference
study of power relationships
study of female experience

6. Key Concepts in Feminism
Antrocentrism: attitudes, practices or social organizations based on assumption that men are the model of being
Gynocriticism: trend examining distinctive characteristics of the female experience
Misogyny: hatred of women
Patriarchy: Social system headed and directed by a male

7. Postcolonialism

8. Postcolonialism Main concern Trends
Study of cultures formerly (or currently) colonized
Power struggle between cultures
Intersection of cultures
Trends
Study of colonizing process
Study of colonization fallout
Study of new colonizing efforts

9. Key Concepts in Postcolonialism
the subjection of one population by another
often violent
Cultural colonization
subjugation of colonized culture in all respects
imposition of colonizer’s culture on colonized

10. Key Concepts in Postcolonialism
Othering: the assumption that those who are different from oneself are inferior
Demonic other: view that those who are different from oneself are not only backward but also savage, even evil
Exotic other: view that those who are different from oneself possess an inherent dignity and beauty, perhaps because of their more undeveloped, natural state of being

11. Key Concepts in Postcolonialism
Double vision/double consciousness: sense of being part of both colonized and colonizing cultures
Eurocentrism: view that European (including American) ideals and experiences are the standard
Hybridity/syncretism: quality of cultures that have characteristics of both the colonizers and the colonized
Neocolonialism: domination of a developing nation by international corporations attracted by cheap labor and manipulable political and legal systems.

12. Key Concepts in Postcolonialism
Mimicry: imitation of the dress, manners, and language of the dominant culture by the oppressed
Subalterns: people of inferior status
Unhomeliness: the sense of being culturally displaced, of being caught between two cultures and not “at home” in either.
Universalism: belief that a great work of literature deals with certain themes and characters that are common in European literature--Eurocentric in nature.

13. As a literary theory (or critical approach), it deals with literature produced in countries that once were colonies of theories found among the texts and sub-texts of other countries, especially of the European colonial powers Britain, France, and Spain; in some contexts, it includes countries still in colonial arrangements.

14. It also deals with literature written in colonial countries and by their citizens that has colonized people as its subject matter. Postcolonial theory was part of the 1970,with the “orientalism” of Edward Said. Describes the discourse about the East constructed by the West.

15. Colonized people, especially of the British Empire, attended British universities; their access to education, still unavailable in the colonies, created a new criticism - mostly literary, and especially in novels. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union during the late 20th century, its former republics became the subject of this study as well.

16. Temporal Aception- postcolonialsm appears in 1947 with the independence of India, at the end of the Second World War. It appears in Asia and Africa in all Europe from XVI century. (P. Williams, L. Chrismas) (F. Jameson).

17. Discursive Aception- literature made in the colonial period (B
Discursive Aception- literature made in the colonial period (B. Ashcroft), and practice that braked down the arguments use from Europe to dominate. (E. Shoat, M.L.Pratt)

18. Epistemic Aception- postcolonial theories, 1980 England and U. S
Epistemic Aception- postcolonial theories, 1980 England and U.S.A by the Palestine Edward Said. In his book “Orientalism”(1978). The “other” human science and imperialism.

19. Major Figures: Edward Said Wole Soyinka Homi Bhabha Salman Rushdie Frantz Fanon Jamaica Kincaid Gayatri Spivak Buchi Emecheta Chinua Achebe

20. Key Terms Alterity-lack of identification with some part of one’s community, differentness, otherness. Diaspora-refer to any people or ethnic population forced or induce to leave their homelands, being dispersed throughout other parts of the world.

21. Imperialism-extending the control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and maintenance of empires, either through direct territorial control.

22. Eurocentrism-the practice, conscious or otherwise, of placing emphasis on European concerns, culture and values at the expense of those of other cultures. Hybridity-referring to the integration of cultural signs and practices from the colonizing and colonized cultures.

23. Recurrent Terms in Marxism
Hegemony
Coined by the Italian theorist Antonio Gramsci, this “refers to the pervasive system of assumptions, meanings, and values—the web of ideologies, in other words, that shapes the way things look, what they mean, and therefore what reality is for the majority of people within a given culture.”

24. Recurrent Terms in Marxism
Reification
Often used to describe the way in which people are turned into commodities useful in market exchange.
For example, some would argue that the media’s obsession with tragedy (e.g. the deaths of Jon Benet Ramsay, Princess Diana, JFK Jr., the murders at Columbine High School in Colorado and Newtown Connecticut) make commodities out of grieving people. The media expresses sympathy but economically thrives on these events through ratings boosts.

25. Main Ideas in Marxism Exploitation:
Exploitation of an entire segment or class of society by another
An inherent feature and key element of capitalism and free markets
Profit gained by the capitalist = the value of the product made by the worker + the actual wage that the worker receives
Paying workers less than the full value of their labour
To enable the capitalist class to turn a profit

26. Class System in Marxism
The proletariat
Individuals who sell their labour power
The bourgeoisie
Owns the means of production"
Buys labour power from the proletariat (recompensed by a salary)
Exploits the proletariat