Feminist & Gender Criticism: Complete UGC-NET Guide
Detailed Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction to Feminist Criticism
- 2. Virginia Woolf's Foundations
- 3. Elaine Showalter's Gynocriticism
- 4. Hélène Cixous' Écriture Féminine
- 5. Judith Butler's Gender Performativity
- 6. Eve Sedgwick's Queer Theory
- 7. Key Concepts Explained
- 8. Literary Applications
- 9. UGC-NET Practice MCQs with Explanations
- 10. Conclusion: Exam Preparation Strategy
Essential Concepts for UGC-NET
- Feminist Waves: First (equality), Second (difference), Third (intersectionality)
- Key Texts: A Room of One's Own, The Madwoman in the Attic, Gender Trouble
- Theorists: Woolf, Showalter, Cixous, Butler, Sedgwick
- Concepts: Gynocriticism, écriture féminine, gender performativity, male gaze
- Literary Analysis: Patriarchal representations, female authorship, queer readings
1. Introduction to Feminist Criticism
Feminist literary criticism examines how literature represents and reinforces gender inequalities while recovering marginalized women's voices.
Core Principles of Feminist Criticism
- Exposes patriarchal assumptions in literature
- Recovers neglected women writers
- Analyzes gender representations
- Challenges male-dominated literary canon
- Explores female subjectivity
Gender Criticism Expansions
- Examines construction of masculinity
- Queer theory challenges binary categories
- Intersectional approaches (race, class, sexuality)
- Performativity of gender identities
2. Virginia Woolf's Foundations
Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own (1929) laid groundwork for feminist literary criticism.
Key Woolfian Concepts
| Concept | Definition | Literary Significance |
|---|---|---|
| "A room of one's own" | Material conditions necessary for women's writing | Analyzing women writers' historical constraints |
| Shakespeare's sister | Hypothetical talented sister doomed by patriarchy | Recovering lost women's literary potential |
| Androgynous mind | Creative mind transcending gender binaries | Gender and creative process |
| Patriarchal constraints | Institutional barriers to women's writing | Historical analysis of women's literature |
Literary Application
Applying Woolf to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre:
- Economic independence as theme (inheritance)
- Anger at constraints ("women feel just as men feel")
- Madwoman as expression of repressed creativity
"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." - Woolf, A Room of One's Own
3. Elaine Showalter's Gynocriticism
Elaine Showalter developed gynocriticism as a distinct feminist critical approach in the 1970s.
Key Showalterian Concepts
| Concept | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Gynocriticism | Study of women as writers (not just representations) | Analyzing female literary tradition |
| Three phases | Feminine (imitation), Feminist (protest), Female (self-discovery) | Evolution of women's writing |
| Wild zone | Space of women's culture outside patriarchy | Female bonding in literature |
| The Madwoman in the Attic | Angry double in 19th century women's fiction | Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre |
Showalter's Three Phases
- Feminine (1840-80): Imitating dominant standards (Austen, Brontës)
- Feminist (1880-1920): Protesting standards (Woolf, Gilman)
- Female (1920-): Self-discovery, female experience (Plath, Atwood)
UGC-NET Focus: Showalter's gynocriticism and three phases of women's writing frequently appear in exam questions.
4. Hélène Cixous' Écriture Féminine
Hélène Cixous' concept of "feminine writing" emerged from French feminist theory in the 1970s.
Key Cixousian Concepts
| Concept | Definition | Literary Application |
|---|---|---|
| Écriture féminine | Feminine writing rooted in female body/experience | Experimental women's writing |
| Binary oppositions | Challenging male/female hierarchies | Deconstructing patriarchal texts |
| The Laugh of the Medusa | Reclaiming monstrous feminine imagery | Reinterpreting female monsters |
| Phallogocentrism | Male-centered language and thought | Critiquing patriarchal discourse |
Literary Examples
- Marguerite Duras: Circular, fluid narratives
- Monique Wittig: Lesbian textual strategies
- Jeanette Winterson: Experimental gender representations
"Write yourself. Your body must be heard." - Cixous, The Laugh of the Medusa
5. Judith Butler's Gender Performativity
Judith Butler's Gender Trouble (1990) revolutionized gender studies with performativity theory.
Key Butlerian Concepts
| Concept | Definition | Literary Application |
|---|---|---|
| Gender performativity | Gender as repeated performance, not essence | Analyzing character gender constructions |
| Sex/Gender distinction | Biological sex vs. culturally constructed gender | Challenging essentialist representations |
| Heterosexual matrix | Cultural framework enforcing gender binaries | Queering literary texts |
| Subversive repetitions | Disrupting gender norms through performance | Drag and gender-bending in literature |
Literary Analysis
Applying Butler to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night:
- Viola's cross-dressing as gender performance
- Fluidity of desire beyond binaries
- Subversion of heterosexual norms
UGC-NET Focus: Butler's gender performativity is frequently tested in questions about contemporary gender theory.
6. Eve Sedgwick's Queer Theory
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's Epistemology of the Closet (1990) established foundational queer theory concepts.
Key Sedgwickian Concepts
| Concept | Definition | Literary Application |
|---|---|---|
| Homosocial continuum | Range between same-sex social bonds and sexuality | Male friendships in literature |
| Epistemology of the closet | Knowledge structures around secrecy/disclosure | Reading coded queer representations |
| Paranoid vs. reparative reading | Suspicious vs. healing interpretive modes | Alternative reading strategies |
| Queer performativity | Disruptive identity performances | Non-normative characters |
Literary Applications
- Melville's Billy Budd: Homosocial/homosexual tensions
- Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray: Closet dynamics
- Modernist poetry: Coded queer desire
"The closet is the defining structure for gay oppression in this century." - Sedgwick, Epistemology of the Closet
7. Key Concepts Explained
| Term | Definition | Theorist |
|---|---|---|
| Gynocriticism | Study of women as writers and creators | Showalter |
| Écriture féminine | Feminine writing style embracing fluidity | Cixous |
| Gender performativity | Gender as repeated performance rather than essence | Butler |
| Male gaze | Visual culture constructing women as objects | Mulvey |
| Homosocial continuum | Spectrum from social bonds to sexual relations | Sedgwick |
Feminist vs. Gender vs. Queer Criticism
| Feminist Criticism | Gender Criticism | Queer Theory |
|---|---|---|
| Focus on women's experiences | Examines gender constructions | Challenges identity categories |
| Patriarchy as central concern | Analyzes masculinity/femininity | Focus on non-normative sexualities |
| Recovers women's writing | Questions binary thinking | Embraces fluidity and performativity |
8. Literary Applications
Feminist & Gender Readings
| Text | Approach | Analysis |
|---|---|---|
| Jane Eyre | Feminist (Showalter) | Madwoman as repressed female anger |
| Orlando | Gender (Butler) | Fluid gender performance |
| The Color Purple | Intersectional | Race, gender, and class oppression |
| The Waste Land | Queer (Sedgwick) | Coded homosexual references |
| The Awakening | Écriture féminine | Female bodily experience |
Sample Analysis: Mrs. Dalloway
Feminist: Female consciousness under patriarchy
Queer: Clarissa's past relationship with Sally
Gender: Septimus as failed masculinity
9. UGC-NET Practice MCQs with Explanations
1. The concept of "a room of one's own" in feminist criticism was introduced by:
- Virginia Woolf
- Simone de Beauvoir
- Elaine Showalter
- Judith Butler
Explanation: Woolf's 1929 essay established this foundational feminist concept.
2. Elaine Showalter's three phases of women's writing are:
- Imitation, Rebellion, Independence
- Feminine, Feminist, Female
- Victorian, Modernist, Postmodern
- Domestic, Political, Experimental
Explanation: Showalter's phases are Feminine (imitation), Feminist (protest), Female (self-discovery).
3. The term "écriture féminine" is associated with:
- Julia Kristeva
- Hélène Cixous
- Luce Irigaray
- Simone de Beauvoir
Explanation: Cixous developed this concept of feminine writing in The Laugh of the Medusa.
4. Judith Butler's concept of gender performativity suggests that:
- Gender is biologically determined
- Gender is constituted through repeated performances
- Performance art defines gender identity
Explanation: Butler argues gender is not what one is, but what one does through repetitive acts.
5. Match the following theorists with their key concepts:
| Theorist | Concept |
|---|---|
| 1. Eve Sedgwick | A. Gender performativity |
| 2. Judith Butler | B. Gynocriticism |
| 3. Elaine Showalter | C. Epistemology of the closet |
- 1-A, 2-B, 3-C
- 1-C, 2-A, 3-B
- 1-C, 2-A, 3-B
- 1-B, 2-C, 3-A
Explanation: Correct matching is Sedgwick-Epistemology, Butler-Performativity, Showalter-Gynocriticism.
10. Conclusion: Exam Preparation Strategy
Feminist and Gender Criticism form a significant portion of UGC-NET literary theory questions.
Key Areas for Focus
- Theorist-Concept Matching: Which ideas belong to which thinkers
- Historical Development: Waves of feminism and their characteristics
- Terminology: Precise definitions of key terms
- Textual Applications: How theories apply to literary works
Memorization Tips
Major Feminist Texts (WSBCS):
- Woolf - A Room of One's Own
- Showalter - A Literature of Their Own
- Butler - Gender Trouble
- Cixous - The Laugh of the Medusa
- Sedgwick - Epistemology of the Closet
Key Concepts:
- Gynocriticism (Showalter)
- Écriture féminine (Cixous)
- Performativity (Butler)
- Closet (Sedgwick)
Final Revision Checklist
- ✓ Woolf's foundational concepts
- ✓ Showalter's gynocriticism
- ✓ Cixous' écriture féminine
- ✓ Butler's gender theory
- ✓ Sedgwick's queer theory
- ✓ Key terminology and applications
"One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman." - Simone de Beauvoir, anticipating gender performativity
