Lit Theory Final

oh boy am I scared

Patriarchy

A system where men hold primary power and dominate roles of authority and privilege.

First Wave Feminism

Focused on legal equality, particularly voting rights, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Second Wave Feminism

Advocated for workplace equality, reproductive rights, and liberation, beginning in the 1960s.

Third Wave Feminism

A 1990s movement emphasizing diversity, intersectionality, and challenges to universal definitions of womanhood.

Images of Women Criticism

Examines how women are portrayed in literature and culture, critiquing stereotypes and biases.

Gender and Sex

Distinguishes between socially constructed roles (gender) and biological differences (sex).

The Canon

A body of works considered authoritative or representative of a culture, often critiqued for excluding marginalized voices.

Prescriptive Criticism

Evaluates literature based on adherence to predetermined norms or ideals.

Intersectionality

Coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, describes how overlapping social identities contribute to systemic oppression.

Naturalizing of Heterosexuality

The assumption that heterosexuality is the natural or default orientation.

Homosociality

Non-sexual relationships and bonds between individuals of the same gender.

Queer

Challenges normative sexual and gender identities, encompassing diverse expressions.

Homosexual Identity

The identification and categorization of individuals based on same-sex attraction, shaped historically and socially.

Traffic in Women

A concept from Gayle Rubin, discussing the exchange of women in patriarchal systems for social and economic purposes.

Lesbian Continuum

Adrienne Rich's concept highlighting a range of woman-to-woman relationships beyond sexual intimacy.

Homophobia/Homosexual Panic

Fear or anxiety related to homosexuality, often manifesting as discrimination or aggression.

Outing

The act of publicly revealing someone's sexual orientation without their consent.

Heteronormativity

The assumption that heterosexual relationships are the standard or norm.

Gender and Performance

Judith Butler's idea that gender is performed through repeated actions based on societal expectations.

Discourse

In Foucault’s theory, systems of knowledge and power that define and regulate practices and beliefs.

The Panopticon

A metaphor for modern surveillance and control, based on Jeremy Bentham's prison design, explored by Michel Foucault.

Old Historicism vs. New Historicism

Old Historicism prioritizes historical context; New Historicism explores texts in the cultural and historical interplay of power and ideology.

Cultural Studies

Examines cultural artifacts and practices within social and political contexts, emphasizing resistance and agency.

The Unconscious

The part of the mind containing repressed desires and thoughts outside conscious awareness.

Transference

Redirecting feelings for one person onto another, often seen in therapy.

Repression

The act of pushing distressing memories or desires into the unconscious.

Defenses

Psychological strategies (e.g., denial, displacement) to manage anxiety or stress.

Sublimation

Redirecting socially unacceptable impulses into acceptable activities.

Denial

Refusing to accept reality or facts to avoid discomfort.

Oedipal Complex

Freud’s theory of a child’s desire for the opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the same-sex parent.

The Ego, Id, Superego

The psyche’s rational mediator (ego), instinctual desires (id), and moral conscience (superego).

The Return of the Repressed

When repressed desires or memories resurface in disguised forms.

Displacement

Shifting emotional impulses from the original source to a safer target.

The Mirror Stage

A phase where infants recognize themselves in a mirror, forming self-awareness.

The Imaginary

A pre-linguistic phase of unity and wholeness in Lacanian theory.

Law of the Father

The symbolic order’s rules and authority, introducing the child to societal norms.

The Symbolic

Lacan’s realm of language, culture, and structured social relations.

Post-Colonialism

Analyzes the effects of colonization on cultures and societies, highlighting resistance and hybrid identities.

Double-Consciousness

W.E.B. Du Bois's concept of internal conflict in oppressed individuals who see themselves through others’ perspectives.

Mimicry

When colonized people imitate colonizers’ culture, blending submission and resistance.

Neocolonialism

Modern economic and cultural dominance resembling colonial power dynamics.

Hybridity

The creation of mixed identities and cultures through colonization and globalization.

Orientalism

Edward Said’s critique of Western depictions of the East as exotic and inferior.

Whiteness Studies

Examines how whiteness operates as a social and cultural norm and a position of privilege.

The Ideal Reader

A hypothetical reader who fully understands and appreciates a text.

The Implied Reader

A concept by Wolfgang Iser, referring to the reader assumed by the text itself.

Gaps

Elements of a narrative left undefined, inviting reader interpretation.

Interpretive Communities

Groups of readers who share common strategies and conventions for interpreting texts.

Horizon of Expectations

Hans Robert Jauss's idea that readers’ interpretations are shaped by their historical and cultural context.

Reception History

The study of how texts are understood differently across time and cultures.

Symptomatic Reading

Interpreting a text by uncovering its underlying contradictions or ideologies.

Anthropomorphism

Attributing human traits to nonhuman entities in literature or culture.

Environmental Justice

Advocates for equal treatment of all people in environmental decisions and policies.

The Nonhuman

Exploring the roles of animals, ecosystems, and objects beyond human-centered perspectives.

The Social and Medical Model of Disability

Contrasting the medical model, which treats disability as an individual issue, with the social model, focusing on societal barriers.

Binary Oppositions of Disability

Constructs like 'abled/disabled' that simplify and stigmatize diverse experiences of ability.