...Mapping the Modern “An argumentative essay on ‘Gender’ through comparison and contrast of the views of authorities who are postmodern practitioners” Introduction Defining postmodernism as well as gender is an extremely difficult task if not impossible. This essay is an argument on the two postmodernist’s concept on ‘Gender’. This essay argues posing foucauldian postmodernism of Judith Butler against Baudrillardean post modernism of Arthur and Marilouse Kroker with analysis on both their ideas on gender including sex and sexuality. This essay also argues that these two approaches are fully flawed for a number of important reasons. This essay offered an argument on the ideas of two of the most prominent postmodernists in the field of ‘Gender’ including sex and sexuality namely Judith Bultler and Discussion Postmodernism of Judith Butler Judith Butler is one among the most influential proponent of postmodern practitioner of gender including sex and sexuality. In Gender Trouble It is stated that identity of gender constitutes the very expressions which are its results and does not go beyond the expressions of gender. Butler does not consider gender as an appropriate social as well as natural expressions of a sexed body, but it is a fluid identity which is always in a deferral state ad does not exist fully at any given point of time (Norris, 2010). She does not believe in the notion of a stable and essential identity of gender manifesting itself by way of external activities...
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...The Representation of Gender in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando and Jeffrey Eugenides’s Middlesex by Marte Rognstad A Thesis Presented to The Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages University of Oslo In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the MA Degree Spring Term 2012 Marte Rognstad The Representation of Gender in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando and Jeffrey Eugenides’s Middlesex Marte Rognstad http://www.duo.uio.no Trykk: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo Abstract This thesis presents an exploration of the representation of gender in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando and Jeffrey Eugenides’s Middlesex mainly in light of the theories of Judith Butler. The focus will be on how the two novels challenge the traditional concept of gender and gender categories, and in what ways the novels can give us new perspectives on the concept of gender. The theoretical focus will be on Judith Butler, more precisely her idea of gender as performance, and her deconstructionist approach to identity categories. I will present Butler’s proposal for a “new feminist genealogy,” and through my investigation of the representation of gender in Orlando and Middlesex I will show how both novels take on a “Butlerian” understanding of the concept of gender. By looking at various issues related to gender explored in the two novels, and pointing to similarities and differences between the two works, I hope to show how the protagonists, Orlando and Cal/lie, break down and transcend the fraught...
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...her book Gender Trouble, which challenged many assumptions made about heteronormative culture and gender identity. In this book she discussed how the existing feminist movement, of that time, was limited in how it defined gender. During the 1990s the feminist movement moved toward defending a concrete feminine identity because it was believed to be crucial for the societal advancement of women. This delineation of gender was, and still is, reflected in how the world treats gender as binary (male and female). By using poststructuralist theories about socially created identities, Butler makes the case for gender as being a “performative” act that is socially constructed. She points out that gender identity is complex in its relation to sex and that to appreciate these complexities, feminists must move further away from the traditional Western ideologies of what is “normal” gender...
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...30/04/2013 In Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia, the protagonist Karim states: “Yeah, sometimes we were French, Jammie and I, and other times we went black Americans. The thing was, we were supposed to be English, but the English we were always wogs and nigs and Pakis and the rest of it”. Write an essay exploring how Kureishi’s novel maps Englishness as a contested terrain of identities, politics and performance. Your discussion should refer to Stuart Hall’s work on ethnicities and on Judith Butler’s writing on performance as identity. Much of the Kureishi’s early work is grounded primarily in racial and cultural conflict between British mainstream culture and ethnic minority communities; the conflict between the cultural claims that the first-generation immigrants were prone to clinging onto and the sense of belonging, which they their children aspired to develop in mainstream British society. To the children of immigrants, particularly those who had migrated from British Commonwealth or ex-colonized countries, any reflection on Britain, or their parents’ homeland, in terms of “home” may differ significantly from that perceived by their parents. As a writer born and bred in Britain of a Pakistani father and an English mother, Kureishi reflects upon his own identity, affirming in an interview his own sense of identity be seeing himself as British: “Critics have written that I’m caught between two cultures. I’m not. I’m British; I’ve made it in England. It’s...
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...In Search of Her: A Postcolonial/ Feminist Enquiry into the Identity of Indian Woman Kochurani Abraham “The home was the principal site for expressing the spiritual quality of the nation’s culture and women must take the main responsibility of protecting and nurturing this quality. No matter what the changes in the external conditions of life for women, they must not lose their essentially spiritual (ie feminine) virtues; they must not, in other words, become essentially westernized.” - Partha Chatterjee, “The Nationalist Resolution of the Women’s Question”* “What was gradually and carefully constituted, brick by brick, in the interaction between colonialism and nationalism is now so deeply embedded in the consciousness of the middle classes that ideas about the past have assumed the status of revealed truths…It has led to a narrow and limiting circle in which the image of Indian womanhood has become, both a shackle and a rhetorical device that nevertheless functions as a historical truth.” - Uma Chakravarti “Whatever happened to the Vedic Dasi?: Orientalism, Nationalism and a Script for the Past.”* Who/where is the Indian woman? Since this conference focuses on the theme “Identity, Difference and...
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...Feminist perspectives are slowly becoming the standard for deconstructing popular culture. When doing so issues of masculine hegemony, gender roles, heteronormativity, objectivity, and an abundance of other concepts that stir up controversy are brought to the surface. Popular culture allows for the challenging of problems women have faced for many years, but it some cases is adheres to these traditions. It is vital to be able to see the overall message in a pop culture text in order to understand its implications. Some texts hold messages that were not intended to be there in the first place. There will forever be controversy when it comes to pop culture, especially when it comes to television shows, as the average Canadian watches 30 hours of T.V a week. (Ryan, 2013) When being constantly exposed to these messages it is important to know what information you are being fed. Some shows are more complex than others, and consist of mixed messages when looking at them from a feminist standpoint. One example of this would be The Mindy Project, a sitcom that first aired in 2012, and has since gained an average of $2.34 million viewers per episode, (IMDb, 2012) The Mindy Project is packed full of messages that can be depicted from a feminist standpoint, but are often blurred behind the hilarity it is known for. To give a brief synopsis of the show, Mindy Lahiri, played by Mindy Kaling, also the director of the show is the main character and also the narrator. The show is about her...
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...Carter, C. (2011) “Sex/Gender and the Media: From Sex Roles to Social Construction and Beyond,” in Ross, K. (ed) The Handbook of Gender, Sex and Media, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN-10: 1444338544; 365-82. ISBN-13: 978-1444338546 Sex/Gender and the Media From Sex Roles to Social Construction and Beyond Cynthia Carter Introduction In the early years of second-wave western feminism, many gender researchers and feminist scholars distinguished between the notion of sex, defined as biological differences between male and female, and ‘sex roles,’ referring to certain behaviors and characteristics attributed to each sex that was a social construction. The resulting media research centered on images of women in the media (much less emphasis was placed on men) in order to draw attention to inequities in their portrayal in relation to men (in quantitative terms as well as in terms of the use of stereotypes). Since the 1970s, however, the scope of social constructionism has greatly expanded in feminist theory. Some suggest that the distinction between the biological and the social has, as a result, eroded to such an extent that it is no longer possible to understand the difference, while others question the need for this distinction. For instance, in queer and transgender theory and feminist cultural studies, theorists have sought to make strange the ‘sex/gender’ distinction. The key argument made is that biology is no less a cultural construct than gender socialization into masculinity...
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...exception. hooks engages with a wide variety of problems and approaches to “education as the practice of freedom.” Her essays exposed the degree to which our traditional system of education reproduces and sustains structural inequalities. Equally important, these essays offered new ways of thinking about pedagogy, and new strategies for creating a liberatory classroom. The only major downfall I saw in this volume is that the essays often repeated themselves. hooks acknowledges as much in her introduction, saying that since she wrote each essay separately, a certain degree of overlap exists in the collection. I would perhaps recommend that readers space out the essays rather than attempting to digest them all at once; this will allow readers to digest her thoughts before moving on, and will help them avoid becoming frustrated by these overlaps. hooks states that she intends these essays to be “celebratory” (10), and indeed I found that the experience of reading them was often a joyful one. The degree to which she loves teaching and connects with her students is incredibly inspiring. Teaching to Transgress has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf; I anticipate that I will turn to it often as I begin to teach students and create my own pedagogical style. Intro: Teaching to Transgress bell hooks ushers the reader into her collection of essays with a description of the various pedagogies that informed her own education. First, she presents us with the exciting...
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...Theorizing identity in language and sexuality research M A R Y B U C H O L T Z Department of Linguistics 3607 South Hall University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3100 bucholtz@linguistics.ucsb.edu K I R A H A L L Department of Linguistics Campus Box 295 University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, CO 80309-0295 kira.hall@colorado.edu A B S T R A C T The field of language and sexuality has gained importance within socioculturally oriented linguistic scholarship. Much current work in this area emphasizes identity as one key aspect of sexuality. However, recent critiques of identity-based research advocate instead a desire-centered view of sexuality. Such an approach artificially restricts the scope of the field by overlooking the close relationship between identity and desire. This connection emerges clearly in queer linguistics, an approach to language and sexuality that incorporates insights from feminist, queer, and sociolinguistic theories to analyze sexuality as a broad sociocultural phenomenon. These intellectual approaches have shown that research on identity, sexual or otherwise, is most productive when the concept is understood as the outcome of intersubjectively negotiated practices and ideologies. To this end, an analytic framework for the semiotic study of social intersubjectivity is presented. (Sexuality, feminism, identity, desire, queer linguistics.)* I N T R O D U C T I O N Within the past decade the field of language...
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...50 Key Concepts in Gender Studies Jane Pilcher & Imelda Whelehan Fifty Key Concepts in Gender Studies i Recent volumes include: Key Concepts in Social Research Geoff Payne and Judy Payne Key Concepts in Medical Sociology Jonathan Gabe, Mike Bury and Mary Ann Elston Forthcoming titles include: Key Concepts in Leisure Studies David Harris Key Concepts in Critical Social Theory Nick Crossley Key Concepts in Urban Studies Mark Gottdiener The SAGE Key Concepts series provide students with accessible and authoritative knowledge of the essential topics in a variety of disciplines. Cross-referenced throughout, the format encourages critical evaluation through understanding. Written by experienced and respected academics, the books are indispensable study aids and guides to comprehension. JANE PILCHER AND IMELDA WHELEHAN Fifty Key Concepts in Gender Studies SAGE Publications London • Thousand Oaks • New Delhi iii © Jane Pilcher and Imelda Whelehan 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the Publishers. SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver’s Yard 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B-42 Panchsheel Enclave Post Box 4109 New Delhi 100 017 British Library...
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...Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction ‘Jonathan Culler has always been about the best person around at explaining literary theory without oversimplifying it or treating it with polemical bias. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction is an exemplary work in this genre.’ J. Hillis Miller, University of California, Irvine ‘An impressive and engaging feat of condensation . . . the avoidance of the usual plod through schools and approaches allows the reader to get straight to the heart of the crucial issue for many students, which is: why are they studying literary theory in the first place? . . . an engaging and lively book.’ Patricia Waugh, University of Durham Very Short Introductions are for anyone wanting a stimulating and accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and have been published in 15 languages worldwide. Very Short Introductions available from Oxford Paperbacks: ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Julia Annas THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE John Blair ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes Augustine Henry Chadwick THE BIBLE John Riches Buddha Michael Carrithers BUDDHISM Damien Keown CLASSICS Mary Beard and John Henderson Continental Philosophy Simon Critchley Darwin Jonathan Howard DESCARTES Tom Sorell EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN Paul Langford The European Union John Pinder Freud Anthony Storr Galileo Stillman Drake Gandhi Bhikhu Parekh HEIDEGGER Michael Inwood HINDUISM Kim Knott HISTORY John H. Arnold HUME A. J...
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...Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction ‘Jonathan Culler has always been about the best person around at explaining literary theory without oversimplifying it or treating it with polemical bias. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction is an exemplary work in this genre.’ J. Hillis Miller, University of California, Irvine ‘An impressive and engaging feat of condensation . . . the avoidance of the usual plod through schools and approaches allows the reader to get straight to the heart of the crucial issue for many students, which is: why are they studying literary theory in the first place? . . . an engaging and lively book.’ Patricia Waugh, University of Durham Jonathan Culler LITERARY THEORY A Very Short Introduction 1 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford o x2 6 d p Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotá Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw with associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Jonathan Culler 1997 The moral rights...
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...Alita Fonseca Balbi “The Less Deceived”: Subjectivity, Gender, Sex and Love in Sylvia Plath's and Philip Larkin's Poetry Belo Horizonte Faculdade de Letras Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais 2012 i “The Less Deceived”: Subjectivity, Gender, Sex and Love in Sylvia Plath's and Philip Larkin's Poetry by Alita Fonseca Balbi Submitted to the Programa de Pós-graduação em Letras: Estudos Literários in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Mestre em Literaturas de Expressão Inglesa. Thesis Advisor: Sandra Regina Goulart Almeida, PhD Belo Horizonte Faculdade de Letras Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais 2012 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my father, Tadeu, for always reminding me of the importance of having dreams and being true to them; for motivating me to be creative and to believe in my potential; and for teaching me to seek beauty and happiness in everything I see and do. To my mother, Socorro, for always making sure I enjoy all the possibilities that cross my path, and for reminding me that hard work is the only means to achieve my goals. To my brothers, Bruno and Diego, for being my best friends. To my sister-in-law, Sabrina, for embracing me as family and making me feel at home even when I’m not. To Paulo, for his company, for his love and care, and for all his witty remarks. To the professors of Letras, Julio Jeha, José dos Santos, Eliana Lourenço and Gláucia Renates, for being extraordinary professors, and for all the knowledge each...
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...other academic or professional institution Material submitted for another award I declare that no material contained in the thesis has been used in any other submission for an academic award and is solely my own work Signature of Candidate Type of Award School ___PhD_________________________________ ___Centre for Professional Ethics___________ 1 Abstract It was long assumed that both multiculturalism and feminism are connected to progressive movements and hence have comparable and compatible goals. However, both in academia and in popular media the critique on multiculturalism has grown and is often accompanied with arguments related to gender equality and/or feminism. According to political scientist Susan Moller Okin for example there are fundamental conflicts between our commitment to gender equality and the desire to respect the customs of minority cultures or religions. If we agree that women should not be disadvantaged because of their sex, she argues, we should not accept group rights that permit oppressive practices. Okin’s claims led to a complex and highly important debate both in academia and in public debates. The main aim of this thesis is to explore in depth the different discourses about multiculturalism and feminism and develop a more inclusive and nuanced...
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...Theories of International Relations Third edition Scott Burchill, Andrew Linklater, Richard Devetak, Jack Donnelly, Matthew Paterson, Christian Reus-Smit and Jacqui True Theories of International Relations This page intentionally left blank Theories of International Relations Third edition Scott Burchill, Andrew Linklater, Richard Devetak, Jack Donnelly, Matthew Paterson, Christian Reus-Smit and Jacqui True Material from 1st edition © Deakin University 1995, 1996 Chapter 1 © Scott Burchill 2001, Scott Burchill and Andrew Linklater 2005 Chapter 2 © Jack Donnelly 2005 Chapter 3 © Scott Burchill, Chapters 4 and 5 © Andrew Linklater, Chapters 6 and 7 © Richard Devetak, Chapter 8 © Christian Reus-Smit, Chapter 9 © Jacqui True, Chapter 10 © Matthew Paterson 2001, 2005 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright...
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