I am taking a writing seminar this semester about George Orwell. However, as I was reading the syllabus, I came across this troublesome phrase
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google "feminist critiques of orwell"salaamalaykumOctober 21 2005, 15:23:15 UTC
I honestly haven't heard anything about this either, so I Googled. The first two links were Amazon, the third was http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj62/newsinger.htm -- upon searching the page for "feminist", you'll find this paragraph:
At this point it is worth considering one of the most substantial of the recent critiques of Orwell: Daphne Patai's The Orwell Mystique. Orwell has been the subject of attack from Communist sources since the late 1930s and at different times various socialist commentators have also provided critical evaluations of his work. Patai, however, breaks new ground with what amounts to a full scale assault on the whole body of Orwell's work from a feminist perspective. She argues that throughout his writings he cultivates 'a traditional notion of masculinity, complemented by a generalised misogyny' and displays an 'insistent adherence to a gender polarisation that assumes male centrality and superiority'. Her painstaking elaboration of the 'masculine discourse' that runs through Orwell's work will certainly have to be taken account of in any future discussions of Orwell. (emphasis added)
At this point it is worth considering one of the most substantial of the recent critiques of Orwell: Daphne Patai's The Orwell Mystique. Orwell has been the subject of attack from Communist sources since the late 1930s and at different times various socialist commentators have also provided critical evaluations of his work. Patai, however, breaks new ground with what amounts to a full scale assault on the whole body of Orwell's work from a feminist perspective. She argues that throughout his writings he cultivates 'a traditional notion of masculinity, complemented by a generalised misogyny' and displays an 'insistent adherence to a gender polarisation that assumes male centrality and superiority'. Her painstaking elaboration of the 'masculine discourse' that runs through Orwell's work will certainly have to be taken account of in any future discussions of Orwell. (emphasis added)
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