Kastelein, Barbara (1994) Popular/post-feminism and popular literature. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the ambivalence expressed towards feminism by many
women in the last decade and identifies post-feminism as a problematic through which
to explore this in contemporary women's writing. It focuses on selected fictional and
non-fictional texts of the 1980s and 1990s and examines the ways in which they
engage with feminist concerns.
Until now, post-feminism has not been studied through its articulations in popular
literature. To do justice to the wide range of views held by women and avoid a
defensive and pessimistic reading of commercialised mainstream culture, I have made
use of intertextual readings. The methodology is derived from feminist critical theory
and cultural studies in order to address the relation between feminist and non-feminist
literary texts and the dynamic interchange between what have been labelled as
feminist politics and mainstream or consumer women' s interests. The significance of
the research lies in the identification of ways in which such works of fiction and nonfiction
provide an outlet for women's voices which could serve as a basis for
developing feminist criticism and politics.
The thesis is divided into three chapters, the different themes of which illustrate
post-feminist concerns. In the first, I address the literature of popular therapy by
women. The second chapter focuses on contemporary fictional and non-fictional
writings by women on sex. The final chapter examines women' s relationship to
transgression through genres of crime writing. I have found that popular literary
forms used by women may offer a progressive and complex reading of post-feminism.
I conclude that post-feminism has drawn on popular elements of feminism and that, at
the beginning of the 1990s, one may identify a reincorporation of feminism into postfeminism.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Feminism and literature, English literature -- 20th century -- Women authors, Women in popular culture -- Great Britain
Official Date:	June 1994
Dates:	Date Event June 1994 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Taylor, Helen, 1947-
Extent:	v, 275 leaves
Language:	eng

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