Background
Felski, Rita was born on April 15, 1956 in Birmingham, England.
( Beyond Feminist Aesthetics has a dual focus. First, Rit...)
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.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674068955/?tag=2022091-20
( Recent commentators have portrayed feminist critics as ...)
Recent commentators have portrayed feminist critics as grim-faced ideologues who are destroying the study of literature. Feminists, they claim, reduce art to politics and are hostile to any form of aesthetic pleasure. Literature after Feminism is the first work to comprehensively rebut such caricatures, while also offering a clear-eyed assessment of the relative merits of various feminist approaches to literature. Spelling out her main arguments clearly and succinctly, Rita Felski explains how feminism has changed the ways people read and think about literature. She organizes her book around four key questions: Do women and men read differently? How have feminist critics imagined the female author? What does plot have to do with gender? And what do feminists have to say about the relationship between literary and political value? Interweaving incisive commentary with literary examples, Felski advocates a double critical vision that can do justice to the social and political meanings of literature without dismissing or scanting the aesthetic.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226241157/?tag=2022091-20
(Uses of Literature bridges the gap between literary theor...)
Uses of Literature bridges the gap between literary theory and common-sense beliefs about why we read literature. * Explores the diverse motives and mysteries of why we read* Offers four different ways of thinking about why we read literature - for recognition, enchantment, knowledge, and shock* Argues for a new "phenomenology" in literary studies that incorporates the historical and social dimensions of reading* Includes examples of literature from a wide range of national literary traditions
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1405147245/?tag=2022091-20
Felski, Rita was born on April 15, 1956 in Birmingham, England.
Bachelor, Cambridge University, England, 1979. Master of Arts, Monash University, 1982. Doctor of Philosophy, Monash University, 1987.
Assistant professor Murdoch University, Perth, Australia, 1987-1993. Professor University Virginia, Charlottesville, since 1994. George A. Miller visiting professor University Illinois, 1998.
( In an innovative and invigorating exploration of the co...)
( Recent commentators have portrayed feminist critics as ...)
(Uses of Literature bridges the gap between literary theor...)
( Beyond Feminist Aesthetics has a dual focus. First, Rit...)