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Literary (Cultural) Theory

Literary (Cultural) Theory. Feminism & Postcolonialism. Theory. Some General Observations. 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

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Literary (Cultural) Theory

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  1. Literary (Cultural) Theory Feminism & Postcolonialism

  2. 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 • 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 • 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 • Colonialism • 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.

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