| College English , Volume 50, Number 3, 1988 253-272 In Search of Feminist Discourse:. The Difficult Case of Luce Irigaray Robert de Beaugrande The Nature of the Challenge The vital impact of feminism on philosophy and criticism is beginning to be acknowledged all across the English profession. So far, however, we find no widespread consensus about the detailed consequences that we should expect. Reforms directed to conspicuous usages in grammar and lexicon, notably the use of male pronouns for any indefinite person and the designation of activities and professions as male preserves, have been widely accepted. But more recent feminist critiques suggest that the bias of discourse runs much deeper, so deep indeed that it may not be curable through specific interventions in usage. An acute dilemma arises. The English profession is a plausible institution for elaborating critiques of discourse and bringing the results to the awareness of the general public. But, if the bias of discourse runs so deep, how can we hope to find a neutral discourse for our own critiques? As Elaine Marks and Isabelle de Courtivron put it, whether or not we can in fact escape from the structuring imposed by language is one of the major questions facing feminist and nonfeminist thinkers today (4). Traditionally, the feminists tell us, the masculine view was accepted unthinkingly, whereas the feminine viewpoint was registered as a deviation. In our own profession, as Jonathan Culler admits, the perspective of the male critic is assumed to be sexually neutral, while a feminist reading is seen as an attempt to force the text into a predetermined mold (55). | |
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