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Femicidal Fears: Narratives of the Female Gothic Experience
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Femicidal Fears: Narratives of the Female Gothic Experience Paperback - 2001

by Helene Meyers


From the publisher

In Femicidal Fears, Helene Meyers examines contemporary femicidal plots--plots in which women are killed or fear for their lives--to argue that these female Gothic novels of death actually bring the nuances of feminist thought to life. Through her examination of works by Angela Carter, Muriel Spark, Edna O'Brien, Beryl Bainbridge, Joyce Carol Oates, and Margaret Atwood, as well as such infamous cases as the Montreal Massacre and the Yorkshire Ripper, Meyers contends that these femicidal plots restage and embody feminist debates flattened by such glib and automatic phrases as "essentialism" and "victim feminism." Bringing the Gothic and the quotidian together in discussions of heterosexual romance, the sadomasochistic couple, female paranoia, postfeminism, and images of the female body, the book affirms that refusing victimization may not be a simple story, but it is nevertheless one worth telling.

Details

  • Title Femicidal Fears: Narratives of the Female Gothic Experience
  • Author Helene Meyers
  • Binding Paperback
  • Pages 223
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher State University of New York Press
  • Date 2001-11
  • Features Bibliography, Index
  • ISBN 9780791451519 / 0791451518
  • Weight 0.26 lbs (0.12 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.57 x 5.51 x 5.51 in (21.77 x 14.00 x 14.00 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 20th Century
    • Sex & Gender: Feminine
  • Library of Congress subjects American fiction - 20th century - History, Narration (Rhetoric)
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 00054734
  • Dewey Decimal Code 823.087

Media reviews

Citations

  • Choice, 04/01/2002, Page 1424

About the author

Helene Meyers is Associate Professor of English at Southwestern University.