French feminist theory : an introduction / Dani Cavallaro.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cavallaro, Dani, 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Feminist theory--France.

Feminist theory.

Feminism--France.

Feminism.

France.

Physical Description:

xvii, 200 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Continuum, 2003.

Summary:

French Feminist Theory offers an introduction to the key concepts and themes in French feminist thought, both the materialist and the linguistic/psychoanalytic traditions. These are explored through the work of a wide range of theorists.

The book outlines the philosophical and political diversity of French feminism, setting developments in the field in the particular cultural and social contexts in which they have emerged and unfolded.

The principal areas covered are: ongoing debates on the cultural construction and definition of sexual and gendered identities; the relationship between subjectivity and language; the roles played by both private and public institutions in the shaping of sexual relations; the issue of embodiment; and the relationship between gender, sexuality and race. Finally, the book traces the connections between French and Anglo-American feminist approaches and methodologies.

Contents:

Chapter 1 French Feminist Theory: Backgrounds and Contexts 1

Beginnings 1

Existentialism and Simone de Beauvoir 11

1968 and Beyond: the MLF and its Discontents 15

Structuralism, Poststructuralism and Psychoanalysis 22

Contemporary French Feminism: Trends and Debates 33

Chapter 2 Sexual and Gendered Identities 40

Sex and Gender: Some Definitions 40

'Gender Precedes Sex': Materialist Analyses of the Construction of Sexual Difference 45

Equality versus Difference: Unpicking the Symbolic Order 55

Chapter 3 Language and the Subject 72

Signs in Question: Addressing Linguistic Stereotypes 73

Subjects-in-Process: Julia Kristeva's Philosophy of Language 78

Patriarchal Philosophy, Feminine Language: Symbolic Norms and their Transgression 85

Chapter 4 Patriarchal Institutions 94

The Home and the Market: Domestic and Economic Appropriations of Femininity 95

Decoding the Codes: Laws, Rituals, Customs 101

Unequipped to Think, Born to Swot: Women, Philosophy and Education 107

Chapter 5 Writing and the Body 114

Reinventing Language? 115

Ecriture Feminine: Irigaray's and Cixous's Psycholinguistic Perspectives 119

Inscriptions of the Body 125

Chapter 6 Power, Race and the Stranger 135

Sexism and Racism 135

The Stranger Within 137

Feminism and Algeria 148

Appendix Anglo-American Connections 163.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [186]-198) and index.

ISBN:

0826458858

0826458866

OCLC:

55622590