Elaine Showalter

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Elaine Showalter (born January 21, 1941) is an American

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, and writer on cultural and social issues. She influenced feminist literary criticism in the United States

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, developing the concept and practice of gynocritics, a term describing the study of "women as writers". Showalter has written and edited numerous books and articles focused on a variety of subjects, from

feminist literary criticism Feminist literary criticism is literary criticism informed by feminist theory, or more broadly, by the politics of feminism. It uses the principles and ideology of feminism to critique the language of literature. This school of thought seeks to an ...

to fashion, sometimes sparking controversy, especially with her work on illnesses. Showalter has been a television critic for ''People'' magazine and a commentator on

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

radio and television. She is a recipient of the

Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism The Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism is awarded for literary criticism by the University of Iowa on behalf of the Truman Capote Literary Trust. The value of the award is $30,000 (USD), and is said to be the largest annual cash prize for l ...

.

Career

Showalter is a specialist in

Victorian literature Victorian literature refers to English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The 19th century is considered by some to be the Golden Age of English Literature, especially for British novels. It was in the Victorian era tha ...

and the '' Fin-de-siècle'' (turn of the 19th century). Her most innovative work in this field is in madness and hysteria in literature, specifically in women's writing and in the portrayal of female characters. She is the Avalon Foundation Professor Emerita. Her academic honors include a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

and a Rockefeller Humanities fellowship (1981–82). She is also the past-president of the

Modern Language Association The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "st ...

(MLA). Showalter's best known works are ''Towards a Feminist Poetics'' (1979), ''The Female Malady: Women, Madness, and English Culture (1830–1980)'' (1985), ''Sexual Anarchy: Gender and Culture at the Fin de Siecle'' (1990), ''Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media'' (1997), and ''Inventing Herself: Claiming a Feminist Intellectual Heritage'' (2001). In 2007, Showalter was chair of the judges for the prestigious British literary award, the

Man Booker International Prize The International Booker Prize (formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize) is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize was announced ...

. In 2012, she also received an honorary degree from the

University of St. Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

in Scotland.

Critical importance

Showalter's book ''Inventing Herself'' (2001), a survey of feminist icons, was the culmination of a lengthy interest in communicating the importance of understanding feminist tradition. Showalter's early essays and editorial work in the late 1970s and the 1980s survey the history of the feminist tradition within the "wilderness" of

literary theory Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mo ...

and criticism. Working in the field of feminist literary theory and criticism, which was just emerging as a serious scholarly pursuit in universities in the 1970s, Showalter's writing reflects a conscious effort to convey the importance of mapping her discipline's past in order to both ground it in substantive theory, and amass a knowledge base that will be able to inform a path for future feminist academic pursuit. In ''Towards a Feminist Poetics'' Showalter traces the history of women's literature, suggesting that it can be divided into three phases: # Feminine: In the Feminine phase (1840–1880), "women wrote in an effort to equal the intellectual achievements of the male culture, and internalized its assumptions about female nature" (''New'', 137). # Feminist: The Feminist phase (1880–1920) was characterized by women's writing that protested against male standards and values, and advocated women's rights and values, including a demand for autonomy. # Female: The Female phase (1920— ) is one of self-discovery. Showalter says, "women reject both imitation and protest—two forms of dependency—and turn instead to female experience as the source of an autonomous art, extending the feminist analysis of culture to the forms and techniques of literature" (''New'', 139). Rejecting both imitation and protest, Showalter advocated approaching feminist criticism from a cultural perspective in the current Female phase, rather than from perspectives that traditionally come from an androcentric perspective like psychoanalytic and biological theories, for example. Feminists in the past have worked within these traditions by revising and criticizing female representations, or lack thereof, in the male traditions (that is, in the Feminine and Feminist phases). In her essay ''Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness'' (1981), Showalter says, "A cultural theory acknowledges that there are important differences between women as writers: class, race, nationality, and history are literary determinants as significant as gender. Nonetheless, women's culture forms a collective experience within the cultural whole, an experience that binds women writers to each other over time and space" (''New'', 260). Showalter does not advocate replacing

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

, for example, with

cultural anthropology Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The portma ...

; rather, she suggests that approaching women's writing from a cultural perspective is one among many valid perspectives that will uncover female traditions. However, cultural anthropology and

social history Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...

are especially fruitful because they "can perhaps offer us a terminology and a diagram of women's cultural situation" (''New'', 266). Showalter's caveat is that feminist critics must use cultural analyses as ways to understand what women write, rather than to dictate what they ought to write (''New'', 266). However isolationist-like Showalter's perspective may sound at first, she does not advocate a separation of the female tradition from the male tradition. She argues that women must work both inside and outside the male tradition simultaneously (''New'', 264). Showalter says that the most constructive approach to future feminist theory and criticism lies in a focus on nurturing a new feminine cultural perspective within a feminist tradition that at the same time exists within the male tradition, but on which it is not dependent and to which it is not answerable.

Gynocritics

Showalter coined the term "gynocritics" to describe literary criticism based in on a female perspective. Probably the best description Showalter gives of gynocritics is in ''Towards a Feminist Poetics'': :In contrast to nangry or loving fixation on male literature, the program of gynocritics is to construct a female framework for the analysis of women's literature, to develop new models based on the study of female experience, rather than to adapt male models and theories. Gynocritics begins at the point when we free ourselves from the linear absolutes of male literary history, stop trying to fit women between the lines of the male tradition, and focus instead on the newly visible world of female culture. (''New'', 131) This does not mean that the goal of gynocritics is to erase the differences between male and female writing; gynocritics is not "on a pilgrimage to the promised land in which gender would lose its power, in which all texts would be sexless and equal, like angels" (''New'', 266). Rather gynocritics aims to understand women's writing not as a product of

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

but as a fundamental aspect of female reality. Showalter acknowledges the difficulty of " fining the unique difference of women's writing", which she says is "a slippery and demanding task" in "Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness" (''New'', 249). She says that gynocritics may never succeed in understanding the special differences of women's writing, or realize a distinct female literary tradition. But, with grounding in theory and historical research, Showalter sees gynocriticism as a way to "learn something solid, enduring, and real about the relation of women to literary culture" (''New'', 249). She stresses heavily the need to free "ourselves from the lineal absolute of male literary history". That is going to be the point where gynocritics make a beginning. ''The Female Malady'' was consulted by Elaine DiRollo in "A Proper Education for Girls."

Criticism and controversy

Feminist theory and criticism

Duke University-based

Toril Moi Toril Moi (born 28 November 1953 in Farsund, Norway) is James B. Duke Professor of Literature and Romance Studies and Professor of English, Philosophy and Theatre Studies at Duke University. Moi is also the Director of the Center for Philosophy, ...

, in her 1985 book ''Sexual/Textual Politics'', described Showalter's as a limited,

essentialist Essentialism is the view that objects have a set of attributes that are necessary to their identity. In early Western thought, Plato's idealism held that all things have such an "essence"—an "idea" or "form". In ''Categories'', Aristotle si ...

view of women. Moi particularly criticized Showalter's ideas regarding the Female phase, and its notions of a woman's singular autonomy and necessary search inward for a female identity. In a predominantly

poststructuralist Post-structuralism is a term for philosophical and literary forms of theory that both build upon and reject ideas established by structuralism, the intellectual project that preceded it. Though post-structuralists all present different critique ...

era that proposes that meaning is contextual and historical, and that identity is socially and

linguistically Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

constructed, Moi claimed that there is no fundamental female self. According to Moi, the problem of equality in literary theory does not lie in the fact that the

literary canon The term canon derives from the Greek (), meaning "rule", and thence via Latin and Old French into English. The concept in English usage is very broad: in a general sense it refers to being one (adjectival) or a group (noun) of official, authent ...

is fundamentally male and unrepresentative of female tradition, rather the problem lies in the fact that a canon exists at all. Moi argues that a feminine literary canon would be no less oppressive than the male canon because it would necessarily represent a particular socio demographic class of woman; it could not possibly represent all women because female tradition is drastically different depending on class, ethnicity, social values, sexuality, etc. A female consciousness cannot exist for the same reasons. Moi objects to what she sees as an essentialist position – that is, she objects to any determination of identity based on gender. Moi's criticism was influential as part of a larger debate between essentialist and postmodern feminist theorists at the time.

Hysteria and "modern" illnesses

Showalter's controversial take on illnesses such as

dissociative identity disorder Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states. The di ...

(formerly called multiple personality disorder),

Gulf War syndrome Gulf War syndrome or Gulf War illness is a chronic and multi-symptomatic disorder affecting military veterans of both sides of the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf War. A wide range of acute and chronic symptoms have been linked to it, including fatigue ...

and

chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...

in her book ''Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media'' (1997) has angered some in the health profession and many who suffer from these illnesses. Writing in ''The New York Times'', psychologist

Carol Tavris Carol Anne Tavris (born September 17, 1944) is an American social psychologist and feminist. She has devoted her career to writing and lecturing about the contributions of psychological science to the beliefs and practices that guide people's l ...

commented that "In the absence of medical certainty, the belief that all such symptoms are psychological in origin is no improvement over the belief that none of them are." Showalter (who has no formal medical training) admits to receiving hate mail, but has not been deterred from her position that these conditions are contemporary manifestations of hysteria.

Popular culture

Showalter also came up against criticism in the late 1990s for some of her writing on popular culture that appeared in magazines like ''People'' and ''Vogue''.

Deirdre English Deirdre English (born 1948) is the former editor of '' Mother Jones'' and author of numerous articles for national publications and television documentaries. She has taught at the State University of New York and currently teaches at the Graduate ...

, in the American magazine ''The Nation'', wrote: :As the poststructuralist critique of identity politics took hold over the following decade and more, it became unfashionable, in ideas and in dress, it seemed, for the

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

of the female professoriate to identify with either men or women. English quotes Showalter's controversial 1997 ''Vogue'' article:

From
Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...
to
Naomi Wolf Naomi Rebekah Wolf (born November 12, 1962) is an American feminist author, journalist and conspiracy theorist. Following her first book ''The Beauty Myth'' (1991), she became a leading spokeswoman of what has been described as the third wave ...
, feminism has often taken a hard line on fashion, shopping, and the whole beauty Monty.... But for those of us sisters hiding '' Welcome to Your Facelift'' inside ''
The Second Sex ''The Second Sex'' (french: Le Deuxième Sexe, link=no) is a 1949 book by the French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, in which the author discusses the treatment of women in the present society as well as throughout all of histor ...
'', a passion for fashion can sometimes seem a shameful secret life.... I think it's time I came out of the closet.

Showalter was reportedly severely criticized by her academic colleagues for her stance in favour of

patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of Dominance hierarchy, dominance and Social privilege, privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical Anthropology, anthropological term for families or clans controll ...

symbols of

consumer capitalism A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

and traditional

femininity Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered f ...

. Showalter's rejoinder was: "We needn't fall into postmodern apocalyptic despair about the futility of political action or the impossibility of theoretical correctness as a pre-condition for action" (English).

Academic teaching

''Teaching Literature'' (2006) was widely and positively reviewed, especially in the American journal ''

Pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

'', which gave it three review-essays and called it "the book we wish we had in our backpacks when we started teaching."

Summaries of major works

Showalter's Ph.D. thesis is called ''The Double Critical Standard: Criticism of Women Writers in England, 1845–1880'' (1969) and was later turned into the book ''A Literature of Their Own: British Women Novelists from Brontë to Lessing'' (1978), which contains a lengthy and much-discussed chapter on

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

. ''The Female Malady: Women, Madness, and English Culture, 1830–1980'' (1985) discusses hysteria, which was once known as the "female malady" and according to Showalter, is called depression today. Showalter demonstrates how cultural ideas about proper feminine behaviour have shaped the definition and treatment of female insanity from the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

to the present. ''Sexual Anarchy: Gender at Culture at the Fin de Siecle'' (1990) outlines a history of the sexes and the crises, themes, and problems associated with the battle for sexual supremacy and identity. In the 1990s, Showalter began writing for popular magazines, bringing her work further into the public sphere than it ever had been during her academic career. Showalter was the television critic for ''People'' magazine in 1996. She explains her impetus to do popular cultural work: "I've always really loved popular culture, but it wasn't something serious intellectuals were supposed to be concerned about. … I would like to be able to bring my background and my skills to subjects that do reach a wide audience" (Plett). In ''Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media'' (1997) Showalter argues that hysteria, a medical condition traditionally seen as feminine, has persisted for centuries and is now manifesting itself in cultural phenomena in the forms of socially and medically accepted maladies. Psychological and physical effects of unhappy lives become "hysterical epidemics" when popular media saturate the public with paranoid reports and findings, essentially legitimizing, as Showalter calls them, "imaginary illnesses" (''Hystories'', cover). Showalter says: "Hysteria is part of everyday life. It not only survives in the 1990s, but it is more contagious than in the past. Newspapers, magazines, talk shows, self-help books, and of course the Internet ensure that ideas, once planted, manifest themselves internationally as symptoms" (Plett). This view has caused Showalter to be criticized by patient's rights groups and medical practitioners, who argue that Showalter, with no formal medical training, is not qualified to make this determination. ''Inventing Herself: Claiming a Feminist Intellectual Heritage'' (2001) surveys feminist icons since the 18th century, situated mostly in the US and the United Kingdom. Showalter covers the contributions of predominately intellectuals like Mary Wollstonecraft,

Charlotte Perkins Gilman Charlotte Perkins Gilman (; née Perkins; July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935), also known by her first married name Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was an American humanist, novelist, writer, lecturer, advocate for social reform, and eugenicist. She w ...

and

Camille Paglia Camille Anna Paglia (; born April 2, 1947) is an American feminist academic and social critic. Paglia has been a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1984. She is critical of many aspects of modern cultu ...

. Noting popular media's importance to the perception of women and feminism today, Showalter also discusses the contributions of popular personalities like

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

and

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

. ''Teaching Literature'' (2003) is essentially a guide to teaching English literature to undergraduate students in university. Showalter covers approaches to teaching theory, preparing syllabi and talking about taboo subjects among many other practical topics. Showalter says that teaching should be taken as seriously and given as much intellectual consideration as scholarship. ''Faculty Towers: The Academic Novel and Its Discontents'' (2005) is a study of the Anglo-American academic novel from the 1950s to the present. ''A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx'' (2009) makes a claim for a literary tradition of American women writers. This book won the 2012

Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism The Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism is awarded for literary criticism by the University of Iowa on behalf of the Truman Capote Literary Trust. The value of the award is $30,000 (USD), and is said to be the largest annual cash prize for l ...

. ''The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe'' (2017) is a biography of American feminist pioneer

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe (; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the " Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the original 1870 pacifist Mother's Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism ...

, best known for writing the words to "

The Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...

".

Personal life

Born Elaine Cottler in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts, Showalter pursued an academic career against the wishes of her parents. She earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

at

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

, a master's degree at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

, and a PhD in 1970 at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

. Her first academic appointment was at Douglass College at

Rutgers University-New Brunswick Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

. She joined

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

's faculty in 1984, and took early retirement in 2003. Her father was in the wool business and her mother was a housewife. At the age of 21, Showalter was disowned by her parents for marrying outside the Jewish faith. Her husband, English Showalter, is a

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

-educated retired professor of 18th-century French literature who taught at

Rutgers University-Camden Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

. The Showalters have two children,

Michael Showalter Michael Showalter (born June 17, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, director, writer, and producer. He first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's ''The State'', which aired from 1993 to 1995. He and David Wain created the ''Wet Hot ...

, an actor and comedian, and Vinca Showalter LaFleur, a professional speechwriter.

Archives

Papers of Elaine Showalter are held at the

Women's Library The Women's Library is England's main library and museum resource on women and the women's movement, concentrating on Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries. It has an institutional history as a coherent collection dating back to the mid-1920s, ...

at the Library of the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, and at the Pembroke Center Archives, Brown University (MS.2020.007).

Bibliography

* ''A literature of their own: British women novelists from Brontë to Lessing''. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977. * "Towards a Feminist Poetics," ''Women's Writing and Writing About Women''. London: Croom Helm, 1979. * "Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness," ''Critical Inquiry'' 8. University of Chicago: Winter, 1981. * ''The female malady: women, madness, and English culture, 1830–1980''. New York: Pantheon Books, 1985. * (Editor) ''New feminist criticism: essays on women, literature, and theory''. New York: Pantheon Books, 1985. * ''Sexual anarchy: gender and culture at the fin de siècle''. New York: Viking, 1990. * ''Sister’s Choice: Tradition and Change in American Women’s Writing. The Clarendon Lectures 1989.'' New York: Viking, 1991. * ''Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media''. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997. * ''Inventing herself: claiming a feminist intellectual heritage''. New York: Scribner, 2001. * ''Teaching literature''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003. * ''Faculty Towers: The Academic Novel and Its Discontents''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. *

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage ...

.

References

Further reading

*English, Deirdre
"Wollstonecraft to Lady Di"
''The Nation''. June 11, 2001. *Moi, Toril. ''Sexual/Textual Politics''. London: Routledge, 1985. *Plett, Nicole

PrincetonInfo.com. May 15, 1997. *Rouse, John. "After Theory, the Next New Thing." Urbana: March 2004. Vol. 66, No. 4; p. 452, 14 pp.

External links

*
Audio: Elaine Showalter in conversation on the BBC World Service discussion programme
''The Forum''
Elaine Showalter papers, 1968-2001, London University, London School of Economics, The Women's Library.Elaine Showalter papers
- Pembroke Center Archives, Brown University
Open Yale Lecture
on "The Classical Feminist Tradition," delivered by Paul Fry
Twitter feed
of Elaine Showalter {{DEFAULTSORT:Showalter, Elaine 1941 births Living people American literary critics American sociologists American women critics American women sociologists Brandeis University alumni Bryn Mawr College alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Feminist studies scholars Feminist theory Granta people Jewish American writers Jewish feminists Postmodern feminists Princeton University faculty Rutgers University faculty University of California, Davis alumni Women literary critics Presidents of the Modern Language Association