Annotated Bib

Jeannina Perez

Dr. Logan

Literary Genres

27 April 2009

Female Review: Annotated Bibliography

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Routledge Classics). New York: Routledge, 2006.

Butler's text seeks to define and recreate feminist discourse by challenging contemporary views of feminism. Butler argues that the boxes society places gender/sex is unstable and unsupported, and as a result require dismantling. Much of Butler’s texts refer to the various issues within the construction of gender. Most notably, she discusses the way in which we can "trouble" gender (a specific example being cross-dressing) in order to break down oppressive heteronormative gender standards. I used this primarily in the context of “troubling” gender in a scene of the text. The gender roles become more ambiguous, and are as such troubled.

Freneau, Philip. "On the Religion of Nature." American literature. Ed. William E. Cain. Vol. 1. New York: Penguin Academics, Pearson/Longman, 2004. 377-80.

Freneau is an early American poet that I found when doing my research on perceptions of nature in early America. The poem on religion and nature describes nature as feminized, making it the perfect support for my argument of nature as feminized in early American literature. I had originally started with English writer Edmund Burke’s discussion on the sublime and the beautiful, and while it was helpful I thought it was essential to use an American source. I found other sources that described feminine nature in the 18th century, including letters by Thomas Jefferson and Michael P. Branch’s discussion of nature writing before Walden. However, none included the divine so clearly as Freneau’s poem.

Gifford, Terry. Pastoral. London: Routledge, 1999.

Gifford's text gives an overview of the idealized pastoral. This includes a discussion on the three types of pastoral, ecofeminist criticisms role in advancing the study of nature in literature, and notion of escapism in the pastoral. I primarily used this text to frame my definition and use of the pastoral. This text’s mention of ecocriticism also inspired me to use ecofeminism with romanticized nature.

Heller, Chaia. "For the Love of Nature: Ecology and the Cult of the Romantic." Ecofeminism Women, Animals, Nature (Ethics and Action). By Greta Claire Gaard. New York: Temple UP, 1993. 219-42.

Heller's essay primarily discusses feminine representations of nature "emerge out of a romantic tradition based on male, disembodied fantasy of ideal woman" (219). Heller discusses how the romanticizing or idealizing of nature perpetuates the exploitation of women and nature. While she discusses this primarily in a contemporary and medieval context, the concepts are so similar I used it to frame my concluding thoughts on the idealized nature.

Legler, Gretchen T. "Ecofeminist Literary Criticism." Ed. Karen J. Warren. Ecofeminism women, culture, nature. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1997. 227-38.

Legler's article essentially outlines how to read and analyze a text from an ecofeminist perspective. She discusses the major concepts and tools, such as "embodied" nature and conducts praxis. Legler's article provided me with the initial steps I needed to conduct an ecofeminist analysis. I had never used ecofeminism before to read literature, so while I knew that the use of nature was important in the text I did not have the theoretical tools to analyze it. Legler then provided tools to begin my use ecofeminism.

Logan, Lisa M. "Columbia's Daughter in Drag: or, Cross-Dressing, Collaboration, and Authorship in Early American Novels." Feminist Interventions in Early American Studies. Ed. Mary C. Carruth. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama P, 2006. 240-52.

While I did not use this article in this paper, I wanted to include it in my annotated bibliography for future work. Logan’s essay discusses the use and place of cross-dressing in early American literature. This includes points on female homoeroticism, gendered performance, “service of heterosexism” (242), and issues of authorship. In my essay right now, I primarily focus on what occurs with nature during the cross-dressing, but I want to explore how the act of cross-dressing itself fits in with feminized nature.

Mann, Herman. The Female Review. Dedham: Nathaniel and Benjamin Heaton, 1797. Early American Imprints, Series I. Archive of Americana. University of Central Florida, Orlando. 14 Jan. 2009 .

As discussed in my paper, The Female Review is a semi-fictionalized biographical depiction of the life of Deborah Sampson, a Massachusetts citizen who masqueraded as a male soldier to participate in the American Revolutionary army. This text, according to scholars, served to bolster Deborah Sampson’s femininity during life. In order to be accepted after her masquerade, Sampson was presented as the ideal of femininity. My study of this text focuses on the use of nature to support and disrupt notions of femininity.

Murphy, Patrick D. "Ground, Pivot, Motion: Ecofeminist Theory, Dialogics, and Literary Practice." Literature, nature, and other ecofeminist critiques. Albany: State University of New York P, 1995. 19-30.

In this chapter, among other things Murphy discusses bringing ecofeminism into literary practice. He discusses various theoretical influences on ecofeminism, such as Marx and other areas of feminism. My use of this chapter was primarily to establish how and why I am suggesting this 18th century text can be connected to contemporary ecofeminist criticism.

Opdycke, Sandra. The Routledge Historical Atlas of Women in America. New York: Routledge, 2000.

This source, while not cited in my paper, is important introductory reading on the place of women in the American Revolution. It discusses the new opportunities available to colonial women because of the war, including the call for women to help organized protests and “boycotts” (26) against the British government. It discusses the traditional and nontraditional roles women acquired during this period. The text provided background information that helped me acquire a better understanding of the historical context of Deborah Sampson’s cross-dressing.

Vietto, Angela. "The Pen and the Sword: Women Writing Women Warriors." Women And Authorship in Revolutionary America. Grand Rapids: Ashgate, 2006. 53-73.

Again, while I do not cite this text in my paper, I included it for future research. This text discusses the place of women’s writings and stories during the American Revolution. This includes the discussion of patriotism as a virtue both men and m-women could process, creating a space where gendered binaries may be disrupted. This text also specifically discusses Deborah Sampson, but focuses on her own addresses instead of Mann’s text. I hope to use this article in the future in order to study how Mann’s depiction of Sampson matches to her own and whether nature is still involved.

Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” American
Quarterly, 18.2 (Summer, 1966), 151-174.

Welter’s article discusses the cults of domesticity, otherwise referred to as the “Cult of True Womanhood”. This includes an outlines of the major attributes a “true” woman is expected to adhere to, including “piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity” (1). I used this essay primarily to define my use of the phrase the feminine ideal. This has been a major theme within all the texts discussed in this course, and as result the use of this essay felt necessary in order to place the notion of “ideal” within its historical context.

Weyler, Karen A. "An Actor in the Dram of Revolution: Deborah Sampson, Print, and Performance in the Creation of Celebrity." Feminist Interventions in Early American Studies. Ed. Mary C. Carruth. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama P, 2006. 181-93.

Weyler’s article explores how Sampson was “successful in her masquerade” (184) and gained public support despite her disruption of gender norms. Weyler provides a criterion with which to understand Sampson’s success, a criteria I used to shape my argument. My attempt was to take Weyler’s discussion of a step forward by discussing the previously ignored role of nature within the text. For example, while Weyler touches on the piety in Mann’s text she never discusses the nature images connected to piety.