Title: Feminist Literary Criticism Defined
Headings: Feminist Literary Criticism
Feminist Literary Criticism
Feminism Definition
Critical Methodology
Embodying or Undercutting Stereotypes
Tools of the Feminist Literary Critic
Gynocriticism
Resources and Further Reading
Watch Now: 9 Feminist Vocabulary Terms You Should Know

Content: It is a critical practice exploring and recording female creativity. Gynocriticism attempts to understand women’s writing as a fundamental part of female reality. Some critics now use “gynocriticism” to refer to the practice and “gynocritics” to refer to the practitioners. American literary critic Elaine Showalter coined the term "gynocritics" in her 1979 essay “Towards a Feminist Poetics.” Unlike feminist literary criticism, which might analyze works by male authors from a feminist perspective, gynocriticism wanted to establish a literary tradition of women without incorporating male authors. Showalter felt that feminist criticism still worked within male assumptions, while gynocriticism would begin a new phase of women’s self-discovery. Resources and Further Reading
Alcott, Louisa May. The Feminist Alcott: Stories of a Woman's Power. Edited by Madeleine B. Stern, Northeastern University, 1996. Barr, Marleen S. Lost in Space: