New book publication: Influence and Inheritance in Feminist English Studies

Influence and Inheritance in Feminist English Studies, edited by Emily J. Hogg and Clara Jones (Palgrave, 2015) 

Including essays on Virginia Woolf and inherited wealth, Roger Scruton's anti-feminism and Slut Walk and the politics of flippancy, this collection offers a snapshot view of the diverse feminist research being conducted in English studies today and locates this work in the context of the rich, complex and extensive history of feminist literary criticism. Despite the current, very exciting, popular resurgence of interest in feminism, there have been relatively few attempts to reconsider the range and depth of the feminist scholarship produced in the discipline of English studies, particularly from the 1970s onwards. Through six distinct, individual pieces of rigorous and innovative new work, this collection provides a specific focus on the contemporary influence of the substantial inheritance of feminist literary criticism and considers the dynamics of intellectual inheritance within a feminist literary tradition. 

For more information, click here. 

Table of contents:

Introduction 

1. Marion Shaw – 'Old Feminism, New Feminism' 
2. Clara Jones – 'Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own and the Problem of Inherited Wealth' 
3. Lydia Fellgett – 'Amazons and Afterwards: Correspondence as Feminist Practice'
4. Emily J. Hogg – 'Progress and Feminist Literary Criticism: The 'New Eras' of Nadine Gordimer' 
5. Prudence Chamberlain 'The Inheritance of Irony and Development of Flippancy'
6. Niall Gildea – 'Roger Scruton's Daughters: Feminism and Parasitism in the Idea of a University'

Feminism; Influence; Inheritance

The conference on 23rd March 2013 brought together postgraduates and academics to explore how the issues of feminism, influence and inheritance animate or problematize their work and practice in the field of literary study. It aimed to begin a discussion about the challenges and anxieties, but also the significant rewards of engaging with our substantial feminist inheritance as scholars working in English Studies today. During the conference we considered how contemporary research relates to the rich, complex and extensive history of feminist research in the discipline and explored how new directions in literary study might be informed by the work of the past. 

Marion Shaw - Emeritus Professor, Loughborough University - gave the keynote address  which was titled ‘Old Feminism, New Feminism’.