Contesting the Primacy of the Word: Activism, Autobiography and Mimesis
This essay explores elements of the relationship between feminist activism and feminist theory focused on language. I examine the autobiographies of two seventeenth century Quaker women who were activists, and then use the writings of Luce Irigaray to interpret their work. For both the Quaker autobi...
| Published in: | Feminist theology |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
2010
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| In: |
Feminist theology
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| Further subjects: | B
Irigaray
B Activism B Autobiography B Feminist B Mimesis B Quaker |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | This essay explores elements of the relationship between feminist activism and feminist theory focused on language. I examine the autobiographies of two seventeenth century Quaker women who were activists, and then use the writings of Luce Irigaray to interpret their work. For both the Quaker autobiographers and the French feminist philosopher, the concrete oppression of women is connected to the primacy of the word in western culture. Drawing on these sources, I argue that given the masculine economy of language, resisting the dominance of men can be profoundly related to resisting the unrivalled primacy of the written word. The discursive disruption called for by feminist theory can be perhaps most profoundly accomplished with embodied action, while the activist concerns of feminism achieve greater potency when social action is also used to subvert discourse. |
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| ISSN: | 1745-5189 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Feminist theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0966735009360385 |