CONTENTS - VOL. 16, NUMBER 2,
December 2006
SYMPOSIUM
GENDER IN THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS
ETELA FARKAŠOVÁ: Introduction
ETELA FARKAŠOVÁ: In Pursuit of A “Woman‘s
Sentence” (Literary Initiatives of Virginia Woolf)
ZDEÒKA KALNICKÁ: Philosophical Canon in the Czech Universities: Feminist Critique
MARIANA SZAPUOVÁ: Women In Philosophy: The Case of Harriet Taylor Mill
MIROSLAV POPPER, GABRIEL BIANCHI, PETRA SZEGHY, IVAN LUKŠÍK: Constructions of Gender in Partnership Narratives
MA£GORZATA CYMOREK, ALICJA G£UTKOWSKA: Society versus Art: Reflections About Feminism in Poland
MARIA O. CANIVELL: Catalina de Erauso–Basque Transvestite: Translating Gender
ARTICLES
IGOR HANZEL: Alfred Schütz and Edmund Husserl: the Grounding of Social Sciences
BOOK REVIEWS
Linková, M., Èervinková, A., Eds.: Thinking Borders: Gender Examinations of
Rationality, Objectivity and the Knowing Subject by ¼. KOBOVÁ
Uèník, L.: European Discourses on Rights. The Quest for Statehood in Europe:
The Case of Slovakia by D. MORSE
NEW BOOKS
ABSTRACTS
IN PURSUIT OF A “WOMAN‘S
SENTENCE” (LITERARY INITIATIVES OF VIRGINIA WOOLF)
ETELA FARKAŠOVÁ
E-mail: Etela.Farkasova@fphil.uniba.sk
The phenomenon of the “woman’s sentence”, or “woman’s language/writing” is
one of the main themes found in contemporary feminist literary theory. The essay
writing of Virginia Woolf, the renowned English novelist, essayist and
significant representative of the first wave of feminism, reflected these themes. Woolf searched for an authentic “woman’s
language” in her writings; thereby, reaching for—inter alia—the phenomenon of
silence. Some female
representatives of contemporary feminist literary theory regard this as one of
the characteristic signs of “woman’s writing”. The author of this paper explores
how Woolf incorporated this phenomenon into her writings, seeing in it not only
a theme but also a means of creating style and meaning. The ways in which Woolf
uses the phenomenon of silence in her texts offer stimuli for thinking not only
about the specific features of “woman’s writing” as studied in feminist literary
theory, but they are also challenging from the perspective of feminist
epistemology and ethics.
pp. 104-115
PHILOSOPHICAL CANON IN THE CZECH
UNIVERSITIES: FEMINIST CRITIQUE
ZDEÒKA KALNICKÁ
E-mail: zdenka.kalnicka@osu.cz
The author deals with the feminist critique of the philosophical
canon,
challenging the fact that there are no women included in it. The first part
describes the strategies of feminist philosophers and the results of their
research. In the main body of the text, the syllabuses of university courses,
philosophy textbooks, surveys of the history of philosophy, and dictionaries
available in the Czech language are analysed with the aim of mapping out the
situation in the Czech Republic. On the basis of her findings, the author
concludes that the Czech philosophical environment is only at the very beginning
of the process of including women in the history of philosophy.
pp. 116-132
WOMEN IN PHILOSOPHY: THE CASE OF HARRIET TAYLOR MILL
MARIANA SZAPUOVÁ
E-mail: szapuova@fphil.uniba.sk
Feminist reflection of the traditional philosophical canon focuses not only
on the criticism of open misogyny and sexism but it also pays attention to the
various ways in which women are excluded from the area of philosophical output.
One of the mechanisms used for reproducing and confirming the tradition of
androcentrism in the history of European philosophy is the strategy of
downgrading, making invisible, and concealing the position of women in the field
of philosophy. A consideration of the position of Harriet Taylor Mill in the
history of philosophical ideas is a good illustration of some of the more
sophisticated forms of the strategies of exclusion; she is portrayed and
perceived as an appendage to John Start Mill, her liberal feminist opinions are
generally overlooked. A closer examination of her views on the issues of the
emancipation of women formulated particularly in the article The Enfranchisement
of Women shows that through her criticism of the subordinated social position of
women and her defence of their emancipation, Harriet Taylor Mill contributed not
only to the contemporary political struggle for women’s suffrage but also to the
theory of feminism.
pp.133-143
CONSTRUCTIONS OF GENDER IN PARTNERSHIP NARRATIVES
MIROSLAV POPPER, GABRIEL BIANCHI, PETRA SZEGHY, IVAN LUKŠÍK
E-mail: popper@savba.sk
The paper presents the results of a study focusing on the construction of
virtual partnerships according to two basic gender stereotype parameters—where
the personality traits of the characters in the partnership are given in advance: each partner was made either rational or emotional and either dominant
or submissive. Three scenarios were used. The first one, a dominant and rational
male in a relationship with a submissive and emotional woman, reflects the
classical gender stereotyped beliefs about the psychological characteristics of
men and women. In the other two scenarios, we combined the various character
types to ensure an equal spread of dominance and submissiveness, always matched
with inverse rationality-emotionality versus the traditional gender stereotype,
i.e. man as emotional and woman as rational. Each scenario was created by three
independent focus groups (N=40, 4-6 participants in each group). The analysis of
the discussions indicates that the dimensions of dominance-submissiveness and
rationality-emotionality interact in narrative constructions; the dominance
dimension is superior to the dimension of rationality in terms of the potential
for making decisions about the future of the relationship. The expected
functioning of these dimensions is usually independent of their (both female and
male) bearers. At the same time, both men and women are easily imagined and
described as consistent human beings when they are either dominant and rational
or submissive and emotional, while the mixed characteristics (dominance with
emotionality or rationality with submissiveness) are difficult to imagine as
part of one functioning entity.
pp. 144-159
SOCIETY VERSUS ART: REFLECTIONS ON FEMINISM IN POLAND
MA£GORZATA CYMOREK, ALICJA G£UTKOWSKA
Email: malgorzatacymorek@wp.pl,
alicja_glutkowska@wp.pl
In Poland, the response to feminism is connected with two different outlooks
on life: Christian or postmodern. While the Christian model seems to stabilize
the traditional image of a woman, the postmodern model connects feminist issues
with questions of identity and the category of ‘womanhood’. The article
considers the way in which the postmodern model is realized in art—the sphere in
which sex can be treated as a kind of dynamic structure. The work of Polish
women artists often playfully polemicize religious dogmas referring to the
paradoxes of Christianity. The article also gives a short outline of the
national-catholic paradigm, which still dominates Polish social consciousness
and casts women in shadowy social roles. In Poland, feminism seems to be
perceived as an attack on a national ideology which promotes traditional family
values and maintains that religious symbols are fundamental to Polish culture
and its specificity.
pp. 160-169
CATALINA DE ERAUSO—BASQUE
TRANSVESTITE: TRANSLATING GENDER
MARIA ODETTE CANIVELL
E-mail: canivemx@jmu.edu.
Catalina de Erauso was a Spanish nun—turned soldier—who lived in 17th century
Spain. Dressed as a man for almost two decades, she travelled to the Colonies to
test her luck in the army, where she made the grade of ensign. In 1624 she wrote
her memoirs. Unfortunately, the original manuscript was lost and the text which
has survived is a copy, probably penned by an amanuensis. In 1996, an English
translation of her memoirs was published. In my paper I will argue that the
translation of the Stepto’s translation reflects a cultural bias and shows
little effort at researching the nun's deeds and words. I will also examine
gender attitudes in the Renaissance, and later periods, and the role of the
Church in curtailing women from attaining intellectual maturity. To back my
claims, I use Catalina's original text and contrast it with subsequent editions.
I hope to prove that the English translation veers more towards sensationalism
than to a deep and abiding respect for the nun’s misfortunes.
pp. 170-178
ALFRED SCHÜTZ AND EDMUND HUSSERL: THE GROUNDING OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
IGOR HANZEL
E-mail: hanzel999@hotmail.com
The aim of this paper is to analyze A. Schütz’s attempt to ground the social
sciences in Husserl’s work as it developed in the years 1957–1959. I start with
the analysis of Schütz’s departure from Husserl’s project of a transcendental
phenomenology. I then provide a critique of Schütz’s views while simultaneously
showing their importance for the foundation of the social sciences.
pp. 179-197
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