Celebrated feminist critic premiers work

Feminist criticism had been so 1970s. But, with the coming publication of "A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx" by literary and cultural critic Elaine Showalter, that is no longer the case. In her newest project, Showalter, who now celebrates iconic status, has hurled herself into the business of sharing that recognition and respect with her fellow female writers.

Showalter was invited to Skidmore by Dr. Holly Jackson of the English department, who had met Showalter while studying as a graduate student at Brandeis. The lecture, hosted last Tuesday, Feb. 17 at the Surrey Inn, was co-sponsored by the English, American Studies, and Women's Studies departments.

Among the audience was Margaret Fiori '09. "I took a feminist political class last semester and I became enthralled by feminist ideas," Fiori said. "I wanted to go to the lecture because of my introduction to that work."

Although women authors have been celebrated in literary anthologies before, "A Jury of Her Peers" is the first comprehensive literary history of American female authors from before the Revolutionary War until the present. While the publication of this book is not Showalter's most radical venture, it is concisdered milestone in feminist literture.

"The book is a reaction," Showalter said, "to the fact that many female authors are forgotten once they die."

"It was eye-opening, shocking, that there are so many female writers who were praised in their times but were forgotten after they died," Fiori said. "I think her book is necessary and important. It's a stepping-stone. Once she puts it out there, she's going to push people's buttons to respond."

The title of Showalter's new book comes from a short story written by journalist Susan Glaspell in 1917. The short story was in response to a murder trial Glaspell had covered where a farmwoman allegedly killed her husband. In the story, the male characters fail to uncover a motive for the killing, whereas the female characters come to recognize the murder as revenge for the overbearing patriarchy from the husband that had for so long strangled the creativity, strength, and joy of the farmwoman. Collectively, the women work to protect their peer from further imprisonment by the law.

The story, which begins Showalter's history, is her answer to why so many American women authors have been forgotten: "they needed a critical jury of their peers to discuss their work, to explicate its symbols and meanings, and to demonstrate its continuing relevance to all readers," Showalter says in the introduction of her work.

"I was thrilled to bring such a prominent and engaging scholar to Skidmore," Professor Jackson said. "I thought that her presentation made the concerns of feminist literary criticism both compelling and accessible to students and, even for someone who teaches and writes on this subject, it made me want to look again at American women writers with fresh eyes."

Showalter is attributed to having pioneered the theory of "gynocriticism," or the idea that women's writing can, and should be, regarded as a distinct genre. She is also famous, as well as infamous, for her theories of hysteria in Victorian and contemporary culture. Her career ranges from having taught English at Princeton University, having published for "People," "Vogue," and the "LA Times" when she covered the Michael Jackson trials, as well as having served as a judge for the National Book Awards. Before writing "A Jury of Her Peers," Showalter's most recent publications include "Hystories," published in 1997, and "Inventing Herself," published in 2001.