A textbook of literary criticism and feminism / Neeraj Anand.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- New criticism -- Literary theory -- Progress of the world's women -- Using media to promote gender equality -- Intellectual movements in Iran -- Women's achievements through the lens of statistics -- The sea in nineteenth-century English and American literature -- British ephemeral literature.

"Feminist literature is fiction, nonfiction, drama, or poetry, which supports the feminist goals of defining, establishing, and defending equal civil, political, economic, and social rights for women. Feminist literary criticism is literary criticism informed by feminist theory, or more broadly, by the politics of feminism. There has also been a close link between feminist literature and activism, with feminist writing typically voicing key concerns or ideas of feminism in a particular era. Much of the early feminist literary scholarship was given over to the rediscovery and reclamation of texts written by women. Feminism has transformed the academic study of literature, fundamentally altering the canon of what is taught and setting new agendas for literary analysis. In this authoritative history of feminist literary criticism, leading scholars chart the development of the practice from the Middle Ages to the present. This book offers a comprehensive guide to the history and development of feminist literary criticism and a lively reassessment of the main issues and authors in the field. It is essential reading for all students and scholars of feminist writing and literary criticism"-- Back cover.