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A review by flappermyrtle
A Literature of Their Own: British Women Novelists From Brontë to Lessing by Elaine Showalter
3.0
A Literature of Their Own is one of the major works of feminist literary criticism written in the second feminist wave. It is truly seminal in many of its ideas, and forms a brave attempt at finding and (re)creating a sense of feminine heritage in literature.
However, it is also flawed in many points. The work is barely intersectional and focuses on works written by white, middle-class female authors, mostly from England. Furthermore, it is a little unclear in its actual theory and methodology, while it clearly does have a political agenda. Showalter at times judges certain authors or groups of authors for their practice (be it feminine, feminist or female) and fails to admit this. As Toril Moi has also pointed out, Showalter basically wishes to set up a new canon, a female one, without questioning the need and logic behind a canon - enforcing one's idea of 'good literature' upon others, which is problematic.
This is a very good text to use as a spring board into the concept of gynocriticism, but I'd recommend reading it in tandem with Gilbert and Gubar's Madwoman in the Attic, which is clearer in its theoretical approach and is kind of driven by the same issues, while also looking at subsequent criticism of these books.
However, it is also flawed in many points. The work is barely intersectional and focuses on works written by white, middle-class female authors, mostly from England. Furthermore, it is a little unclear in its actual theory and methodology, while it clearly does have a political agenda. Showalter at times judges certain authors or groups of authors for their practice (be it feminine, feminist or female) and fails to admit this. As Toril Moi has also pointed out, Showalter basically wishes to set up a new canon, a female one, without questioning the need and logic behind a canon - enforcing one's idea of 'good literature' upon others, which is problematic.
This is a very good text to use as a spring board into the concept of gynocriticism, but I'd recommend reading it in tandem with Gilbert and Gubar's Madwoman in the Attic, which is clearer in its theoretical approach and is kind of driven by the same issues, while also looking at subsequent criticism of these books.