Abstract
In her influential treatise “The Laugh of the Medusa,” poststructuralist French theorist Helene Cixous explores the notion of text marked by gender, and notes its importance in subverting the patriarchal structures that perpetuate female oppression within the dominant, phallo-centric social and political order. By analyzing the criterions set by Cixous, and applying them to George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss’, my research demonstrates that Eliot’s novel firmly adheres to several key poststructuralist, feminist principles, and contends that it can thus be viewed as an example of écriture feminine, or a fluid, subversive feminist work, which highlights socially constructed gender inequality in order to galvanize communities towards social change.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Kathleen Waites
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-4-2014 1:00 PM
End Date
4-4-2014 5:30 PM
George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss as Ãcriture Feminine
Alvin Sherman Library
In her influential treatise “The Laugh of the Medusa,” poststructuralist French theorist Helene Cixous explores the notion of text marked by gender, and notes its importance in subverting the patriarchal structures that perpetuate female oppression within the dominant, phallo-centric social and political order. By analyzing the criterions set by Cixous, and applying them to George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss’, my research demonstrates that Eliot’s novel firmly adheres to several key poststructuralist, feminist principles, and contends that it can thus be viewed as an example of écriture feminine, or a fluid, subversive feminist work, which highlights socially constructed gender inequality in order to galvanize communities towards social change.
