Literary Theory_English Literature_2012

Literary Theories
1. Psychoanalytic theory
Sigmund Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis and the psychodynamic approach to
psychology. This school of thought emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind on
behavior. Freud believed that the human mind was composed of three elements: the id, the ego,
and the superego. Freud's theories of psychosexual stages, the unconscious, and dream
symbolism remain a popular topic among both psychologists and laypersons, despite the fact that
his work is viewed with skepticism by many today.

Many of Freud's observations and theories were based on clinical cases and case studies,
making his findings difficult to generalize to a larger population. Regardless, Freud's theories
changed how we think about the human mind and behavior and left a lasting mark on psychology
and culture.

Another theorist associated with psychoanalysis is Erik Erikson. Erikson expanded upon
Freud's theories and stressed the importance of growth throughout the lifespan.
Erikson's psychosocial stage theory of personality remains influential today in our understanding
of human development. Up to this point, early psychology stressed conscious human experience.
An Austrian physician named Sigmund Freud changed the face of psychology in a dramatic way,
proposing a theory of personality that emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind.
Freud’s clinical work with patients suffering from hysteria and other ailments led him to believe
that early childhood experiences and unconscious impulses contributed to the development of
adult personality and behavior.

In his book The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, Freud detailed how these unconscious
thoughts and impulses are expressed, often through slips of the tongue (known as "Freudian
slips") and dreams. According to Freud, psychological disorders are the result of these
unconscious conflicts becoming extreme or unbalanced. The psychoanalytic theoryproposed by
Sigmund Freud had a tremendous impact on 20th-century thought, influencing the mental health
field as well as other areas including art, literature and popular culture. While many of his ideas
are viewed with skepticism today, his influence on psychology is undeniable.

2. Analytical psychology Theory

Analytical psychology (or Jungian psychology) is the school of psychology originating
from the ideas of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. His theoretical orientation has been advanced by
his students and other thinkers who followed in his tradition. Though they share similarities,
analytical psychology is distinct from Freudian psychoanalysis. Its aim is wholeness through the
integration of unconscious forces and motivations underlying human behavior.Depth
psychology, including archetypal psychology, employs the model of the unconscious mind as the

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source of healing and development in an individual. Jung saw the psyche as mind, but also
admits the mystery of soul, and used as empirical evidence the practice of an
accumulativephenomenology around the significance of dreams, archetypes and mythology.

Psychoanalytic method of Carl Jung as he distinguished it from that of Sigmund Freud.

Jung attached less importance than did Freud to the role of childhood sexual conflicts in the
development of neurosis. Moreover, he defined the unconscious to include both the individual's
own unconscious and that inherited, partly in the form of archetypes, from his or her ancestors
(the collective unconscious). He classified people into introvert and extravert types and further
distinguished them according to four primary functions of the mindthinking, feeling, sensation,
and intuition one or more of which predominated in any given person.

Founded by Carl Gustav Jung, the field of analytical psychology is the descendent of the
"Zürich School" of psychoanalysis which Jung spearheaded while still the heir apparent to Freud
and the first president of the International Psychoanalytic Association (1910-1914). The first
written occurrence of the name "analytical psychology" is in a lecture delivered by Jung to the
Psycho-Medical Society in London on August 5, 1913 ("General Aspects of Psychoanalysis").
Conceived by Jung as a general (depth) psychology, the field grew in size and developed in
complexity both during Jung's lifetime and after his death in 1961. By 1997 it had come to
embrace some two thousand professional analysts on five continents. In the years 1907-20 Jung
worked out the main outlines of his theory, which set the course for analytical psychology. By
the end of this period, the theory included psychological types, the theory of complexes and
archetypes, the notions of persona, shadow, and anima/animus, and the individuation process.

Among the factors that have distinguished analytical psychology are:

(a) a synthetic/symbolic component in analytic treatment;
(b) a view of libido that includes a broad range of instinct groups, as well as a theory of culture
that sees it based not on sublimation of sexuality but on symbolic transformation processes
native to the psyche;
(c) a notion of the unconscious that includes strivings toward growth and development,
intelligent purpose, and orientation to meaning rather than narrowly limited to a pleasure
orientation and a drive to tension release;
(d) minimization of the psychosexual stages of development in childhood in favor of lifelong
psychological development.

Technique also contributes important distinguishing features to analytical psychology:

(a) while retaining a strong sense of the importance of transference and regression, Jung placed
patients in a chair vis-à-vis the analyst and asked them to interact and maintain a dialogue;
(b) frequency of sessions is variable from twice to five times per week, depending on the need;
(c) the personality of the analyst as well as the analyst's associations ("amplifications") to dreams
and other unconscious material come into play in a more open and explicit fashion, and the
analyst seeks to be somewhat transparent and self-disclosing of emotional reactions.

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3. Individual Psychology Theory

Adler was the grandfather to Humanistic Psychology. In his later writings Adler made a
shift never managed by Freud but later repeated by Maslow: he wrote less about pathology and
more about health, and the Nietzschean striving for superiority and compensation, mutated into a
unifying directional tendency toward self-mastery and self-overcoming in the service of social
interest (Gemeinschaftsgef hle), the opposite of self-boundedness (Ichgebundenheit). The healthy
person neither loses himself in his ideal-self fictions or lives through others, the two faces worn
by neurotic selfishness; the healthy person makes his deepest goals conscious while integrating
them into activities that improve family and community. Here Adler anticipates Fromm's dictum
that self-love and other-love arise together and support one another.

Alfred Adler's theory is at once a model of personality, a theory of psychopathology, and

in many cases the foundation of a method for mind development and personal growth. Adler
wrote, "Every individual represents a unity of personality and the individual then fashions that
unity. The individual is thus both the picture and the artist. Therefore if one can change one's
concept of self, they can change the picture being painted." His Individual Psychology is based
on a humanistic model of man. Among the basic concepts are:
1. Holism. The Adlerian views man as a unit, a self-conscious whole that functions as an
open system, not as a collection of drives and instincts.
2. Field Theory. The premise is that an individual can only be studied by his movements,
actions and relationships within his social field. In the context of Mind Development, this
is essentially the examination of tasks of work, and the individual's feelings of belonging
to the group.
3. Teleology ("power to will" or the belief that individuals are guided not only by
mechanical forces but that they also move toward certain goals of self-realization). While
Adler's name is linked most often with the term 'inferiority-complex,' towards the end of
his career he became more concerned with observing the individual's struggle for
significance or competence (later discussed by others as self-realization, or self-
actualization, etc.). He believed that, standing before the unknown, each person strives to
become more perfect, and in health is motivated by one dynamic force - the upward
striving for completion - and all else is subordinated to this one master motive. Behavior
is understood as goal-directed movement, though the person may not be fully aware of
this motivation.
4. The Creative Self. The concept of the creative self places the responsibility for the
individual's personality into his own hands. The Adlerian practitioner sees the individual
as responsible for himself, he attempts to show the person that he cannot blame others or
uncontrollable forces for his current condition.
5. Life-Style. An individual's striving towards significance and belonging can be observed
as a pattern. This pattern manifests early in life and can be observed as a theme
throughout his lifetime. This permeates all aspects of perception and action. If one
understands an individual's lifestyle, his behavior makes sense.

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6. Private intelligence is the reasoning invented by an individual to stimulate and justify a

self-serving style of life. By contrast, common sense represents society's cumulative,
consensual reasoning that recognizes the wisdom of mutual benefit.

The 'Individual Psychologist' works with an individual as an equal to uncover his values
and assumptions. As a person is not aware that he is acting according to misperceptions, it
becomes the task of the practitioner to not only lead the individual to an insightful exposure of
his errors, but also to re-orient him toward a more useful way of living.

4. Existential Psychology Theory

The development of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis dates back to the 1930s. On
the basis of Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalysis and Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology the
psychiatrist and neurologist Viktor Emil Frankl (1905-1997) laid down the foundations of a new
and original approach which he first published in 1938. Logotherapy/Existential Analysis,
sometimes called the "Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy", is an internationally
acknowledged and empirically based meaning-centered approach to psychotherapy. In
Logotherapy/Existential Analysis (LTEA) the search for a meaning in life is identified as the
primary motivational force in human beings.

Frankl's approach is based on three philosophical and psychological concepts:

 Freedom of Will
 Will to Meaning, and

 Meaning in life

Ket:

FREEDOM OF WILL

According to LTEA humans are not fully subject to conditions but are basically free to decide
and capable of taking their stance towards internal (psychological) and external (biological and
social) conditions. Freedom is here defined as the space of shaping one's own life within the
limits of the given possibilities. This freedom derives from the spiritual dimension of the person,
which is understood as the essentially human realm, over and above the dimensions of body and
of psyche. As spiritual persons, humans are not just reacting organisms but autonomous beings
capable of actively shaping their lives. The freedom of the human person plays an important role
in psychotherapy, in that it provides clients with room for autonomous action even in the face of
somatic or pschological illness. And it just that resource which enables clients, in the context of
the techniques of Paradoxical Intention and Dereflection, to cope with their symptoms and to
regain control and self-determination.

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WILL TO MEANING

Human beings are not only free, but most importantly they are free to something - namely,
to achieve goals and puposes. The search for meaning is seen as the primary motivation of
humans. When a person cannot realize his or her "Will to Meaning" in their lives they will
experience an abysmal sensation of meaninglessness and emptiness. The frustration of the
existential need for meaningful goals will give rise to aggression, addiction, depression and
suicidality, and it may engender or increase psychosomatic maladies and neurotic disorders.

Logotherapy/Existential Analysis assists clients in perceiving and removing those factors

that hinder them in pursuing meaningful goals in their lives. Clients are sensitized for the
perception of meaning potentialities; however, they are not offered specific meanings. Rather,
they are guided and assisted in the realization of those meaning possibilities they have detected
themselves.

MEANING IN LIFE

LTEA is based on the idea that meaning is an objective reality, as opposed to a mere
illusion arising within the perceptional apparatus of the observer. This is in contrast to the so-
called "Occupational and Recreational Therapies" which are primarily concerned with diverting
the clients' attention from disturbed or disturbing modes of experience.

According to LTEA humans are called upon, on the grounds of their freedom and
responsibility, to bring forth the possible best in themselves and in the world, by perceiving and
realizing the meaning of the moment in each and every situation. In this context it must be
stressed that these meaning potentials, although objective in nature, are linked to the specific
situation and person, and are therefore continually changing. Thus LTEA does not declare or
offer some general meaning of life. Rather, clients are aided in achieving the openness and
flexibility that will enable them to shape their day-to-day lives in a meaningful manner.

5. Humanistic psychology
During the 1950s, humanistic psychology began as a reaction to psychoanalysis and
behaviorism, which dominated psychology at the time. Psychoanalysis was focused on
understanding the unconscious motivations that drive behavior while behaviorism studied the
conditioning processes that produce behavior. Humanist thinkers felt that both psychoanalysis
and behaviorism were too pessimistic, either focusing on the most tragic of emotions or failing to
take into account the role of personal choice.
Humanistic psychology was instead focused on each individual's potential and stressed
the importance of growth and self-actualization. The fundamental belief of humanistic
psychology is that people are innately good and that mental and social problems result from
deviations from this natural tendency.

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During the late 1950s, Abraham Maslow and other psychologists held meetings to discuss
the development of a professional organization devoted to a more humanist approach to
psychology. They agreed that topics such as self-actualization, creativity and individuality and
related topics were the central theme of this new approach. In 1961, they officially established
the American Association for Humanistic Psychology.
In 1962, Abraham Maslow published Toward a Psychology of Being, in which he
described humanistic psychology as the "third force" in psychology. The first and second forces
were behaviorism and psychoanalysis respectively. However, it is not necessary to think of these
three schools of thought as competing elements. Eachbranch of psychology has contributed to
our understanding of the human mind and behavior. Humanistic psychology added yet another
dimension that takes a more holistic view of the individual.

6. Formalism Theory
Russian Formalism applies a formal method as the scientific basis for critical literary
analysis. The ideas of New Criticism proposed by the poet and literary critic T. S. Eliot
introduced the emphasis of scientific objective analysis of the text. Prior to the origins of the
Anglo-American critical tradition, there was only a “dilettante” approach to literature. Literature
was considered as a form of human understanding and the emphasis was on content and
deciphering its message.
Russian Formalists were also interested in the analysis of the text but their main concern
was with method as the scientific basis for literary theory. There was thus a shift away from
the moral approach to literature towards a scientific approach.
Viktor Shkolvsky’s critical writing was the most prominent work of Russian Formalism.
His aim was to define the techniques of art which writers employed to produce specific effects.
One of his most attractive concepts was the notion of defamilarization. Defamiliarization is
derived from the word ostranenie meaning “making strange”.

7. Structuralism Theory
Structuralism in psychology refers to the theory founded by Edward B.
Titchener (1867–1927), with the goal to describe the structure of the mind in terms of the most
primitive elements of mental experience. This theory focused on three things: the individual
elements of consciousness, how they organized into more complex experiences, and how these
mental phenomena correlated with physical events. The mental elements structure themselves in
such a way to allow conscious experience.

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8. Marxism Theory
In the labour process
According to Marx, alienation is a systemic result of capitalism. Marx's theory of
alienation is founded upon his observation that, within the capitalist mode of production, workers
invariably lose determination of their lives and destinies by being deprived of the right to
conceive of themselves as the director of their actions, to determine the character of their actions,
to define their relationship to other actors, and to use or own the value of what is produced by
their actions. Workers become autonomous, self-realized human beings, but are directed and
diverted into goals and activities dictated by the bourgeoisie, who own the means of
production in order to extract from workers the maximal amount of surplus value possible within
the current state of competition between industrialists. By working, each contributes to the
common wealth. Alienation in capitalist societies occurs because the worker can only express
this fundamentally social aspect of individuality through a production system that is not
collectively, but privately owned; a privatized asset for which each individual functions not as a
social being, but as an instrument:
Let us suppose that we had carried out production as human beings. Each of us would
have in two ways affirmed himself and the other person. 1) In my production I would
haveobjectified my individuality, its specific character, and therefore enjoyed not only an
individual manifestation of my life during the activity, but also when looking at the object I
would have the individual pleasure of knowing my personality to be objective, visible to the
senses and hence a power beyond all doubt. 2) In your enjoyment or use of my product I would
have the direct enjoyment both of being conscious of having satisfied a human need by my work,
that is, of having objectified man’s essential nature, and of having thus created an object
corresponding to the need of another man's essential nature. ... Our products would be so many
mirrors in which we saw reflected our essential nature.

The worker becomes all the poorer the more wealth he produces, the more his production
increases in power and range. The worker becomes an ever cheaper commodity the more
commodities he creates. With the increasing value of the world of things proceeds in direct
proportion to the devaluation of the world of men. Labour produces not only commodities; it
produces itself and the worker as a commodity -- and does so in the proportion in which it
produces commodities generally. Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)

The philosopher, social scientist, historian and revolutionary, Karl Marx, is without a
doubt the most influential socialist thinker to emerge in the 19th century. Although he was
largely ignored by scholars in his own lifetime, his social, economic and political ideas gained
rapid acceptance in the socialist movement after his death in 1883. Until quite recently almost
half the population of the world lived under regimes that claim to be Marxist. This very success,
however, has meant that the original ideas of Marx have often been modified and his meanings
adapted to a great variety of political circumstances. In addition, the fact that Marx delayed
publication of many of his writings meant that is been only recently that scholars had the
opportunity to appreciate Marx's intellectual stature.

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9. Post-colonial Theory
EDWARD SAID

One of the founders of the field of post-colonial studies--itself based heavily upon
French cultural theory--Said is best known for writing about orientalism and conceptions of "the
Orient" as a particular discourse constructed by the West. Said's widely influential 1978
book Orientalism"stands as the essential book of post-colonial theory, a case study of discourse
as domination" (Russell Jacoby, "Marginal Returns", 30). Said's work is based fundamentally
on Foucault's notions ofdiscourse and power. In Orientalism Said defines orientalism as a
subgenre of the post-colonial obsession with "otherness". As described by Said, orientalism was
the mechanism by which the West tried to understand, or at least manage its relations, with the
"East". It denoted the Western "corporate institution for dealing with the Orient -- dealing with it
by making statements about it, authoring views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it,
ruling over it: in short . . . a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority
over the Orient" (Orientalism, 1978:3).

So Said is essentially outlining how the West, and in particular England and France,
"represented"--in effect created--something called the Orient. This was nothing but a construct,
however. What the West called the Orient never in fact existed except in the minds of Westerners.
It was simply a tool that aided in Western subjugation of the region.

More recently, Said's work has come under heavy criticism. Critics such as Bernard
Lewis and Aijaz Ahmad have attacked the thesis that the West simply invented "the Orient", as
well as Said's supposedly oversimplified dichotomy of "East" and "West". Colonial reality was
much more multifaceted than Said seems to suggest, so the rebuttal goes.
Nevertheless, Orientalism stands as one of the seminal texts in post-colonialism. Its methodology
has been applied by many authors to other recently decolonized or subjugated areas of the world
(even including, in some cases, parts of Europe) and cannot be ignored.

FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE

Swiss linguist credited with formulating the concept ofstructuralism and

modern linguistics, by positing that the principles of linguistics (the science of understanding
language) applies also to all social phenomena. Also, with American Charles Peirce, he helped
to found of the theory of semiotics. According to Saussure, language is a system of signs in
which words (the signifier) have only some arbitrary relation to what they signify (the actual
"meaning" of the word). A cat, for example, has no link with the sound of the word "cat." "A
word, therefore, gets its meaning from the way different signs relate to each other -- just as, to
use one of Saussure's own analogy, the 'meaning' of a move in chess only arises out of its context
within a game" (Woolley, 180). This system of language consists of a deep structure of
meanings--hence the appeal to structuralism.

Saussure's ideas about language can probably best be understood in relation to Plato.
Plato argued that words don't relate directly to everyday objects, but rather to ideas(their
"essences"). Saussure agreed with this, but there he parted company with Plato. For Saussure,

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what defines a word is not its relation to some eternal essence, but to its relationship with other
words in the language system. However -- and this is the weird part -- these relationships with
other words are negative, not positive. Also, the word does not have an absolute, "essential"
relationship with the thing it describes; the relationship is rather purely arbitrary. The thing we
call a "cat" we could just as easily call a "dog" or a "plop" or a "boinng" or whatever.

What? Well, according to Saussure, each word (like "bat" for example) is defined by what
it is not (i.e., a "bat" is not a "bit" or a "cat" or "bought" or "but" or whatever). Thus it is
the sound of the word itself that produces the concept of the thing it's describing. However,
there's more to come. Saussure believed that different languages produce different concepts of
things. Thus, a French speaker or a Swahili speaker not only speaks differently from an English
speaker, but also thinks differently.

Now for the linguistic/structuralist part. This is where Saussure weaves his ideas about
language into a unified philosophy. First off, language and everything around us in the world is
made up of signs which we interpret to make sense of the world. Each of these signs is made up
of asignifier and signified. The signifier might be a sound, like "bat", and the signified would
then be the thing it represents (the idea, or concept of a bat). The two combined give us an idea
of what the sign refers to in the "real world", or external reality.

Saussure's ideas set the groundwork for modern linguistics, structuralism, and semiotics,
and have been pursued by later linguists such as Claude Levi-Strauss and Noam Chomsky.

10. Feminism Theory

Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and
defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. In addition, feminism seeks to
establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. A feminist is a "person
whose beliefs and behavior are based on feminism."
Feminist theory, which emerged from these feminist movements, aims to understand the
nature of gender inequality by examining women's social roles and lived experience; it has
developed theories in a variety of disciplines in order to respond to issues such as the social
construction of sex and gender. Some of the earlier forms of feminism have been criticized for
taking into account only white, middle-class, educated perspectives. This led to the creation of
ethnically-specific or multiculturalist forms of feminism.
Feminist activists campaign for women's rights – such as in contract law, property,
and voting – while also promoting bodily integrity, autonomy andreproductive rights for women.
Feminist campaigns have changed societies, particularly in the West, by achieving women's
suffrage, gender neutrality in English, equal pay for women, reproductive rights for women
(including access to contraceptives and abortion), and the right to enter into contracts and own
property. Feminists have worked to protect women and girls from domestic violence, sexual
harassment, and sexual assault. They have also advocated for workplace rights,
including maternity leave, and against forms of discrimination against women. Feminism is
mainly focused on women's issues, but because feminism seeks gender equality, some feminists

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argue that men's liberation is a necessary part of feminism, and that men are also harmed by
sexism and gender roles.

Feminism
Feminism is a diverse, competing, and often opposing collection of social theories,
political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the
experiences of women, especially in terms of their social, political, and economical
inequalities. One institutionally predominant type of feminism focuses on limiting or
eradicating gender inequality to promote women's rights, interests, and issues in society.
Another opposing type of modern feminism, with deep historical roots, focuses on earning,
and establishing equity by and for women, vis-a-vis men, to promote those same rights,
interests, and issues, regardless of gender considerations. Thus, as with any ideology,
political movement or philosophy, there is no single, universal form of feminism that
represents all feminists. The most well-known types of feminism are:
-Liberal feminism,
-Social feminism,
-Radical feminism, and
-Post-modern feminism.

a). Liberal feminism seeks no special privileges for women and simply demand that
everyone receive equal consideration without discrimination on the basis of sex. Liberal
feminists would seek to remove barriers that prevent equal access for women to
information technology jobs not only to provide economic equality but to provide access to
higher-paying jobs for women.

b). Socialist feminism in contrast to liberal feminism, socialist feminism rejects individualism
and positivism. Social feminism believes that technology and the social shaping of
technology have often been conceptualized in terms of men, excluding women at all levels.
Socialist feminist reform suggests that the allocation of resources for technology
development should be determined by greatest benefit for the common good. A growing
use of cyber protests to disrupt capitalist enterprises such as the World Bank might be seen
by socialists as an example of information technology use for the common good.

c). Radical feminism maintains that women’s oppression is the first, most widespread, and
deepest oppression. Radical feminism rejects most scientific theories, data, and experiment
not only because they exclude women but also because they are not women-centered.
Radical feminism suggests that because men, masculinity, and patriarchy have become
completely intertwined with technology and computer systems in our society, no truly
feminist alternative to technology exists.

d). Postmodern feminist theories imply that no universal research agenda or application of
technologies will be appropriate and that various women will have different reactions to
technologies depending upon their own class, race, sexuality, country, and other factors.
This definition of postmodern feminism parallels the description of the complex and
diverse co-evolution of women and computing. In contrast to liberal feminism,

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postmodernism dissolves the universal subject and the possibility that women speak in a
unified voice or that they can be universally addressed. Wajcman's (1991) thoughtful
analysis of the social constructivist perspective on gender and technology reveals some of
the issues embedded in its assumptions. She points out that there is no behavior or
meaning which is universally and cross-culturally associated with either masculinity or
femininity, that what is considered masculine in some societies is considered feminine or
gender-neutral in others. It is not that gender difference does not exist but that it is
manifested differently in different societies. Therefore, addressing the gender gap in IT
employment based upon an assumed "woman's perspective" is problematic. She cites
Harding (1986) in observing that there are as many different "women's experiences" as
there are types of women.

Cyberfeminism

Cyberfeminism is a woman-centered perspective that advocates women’s use of new

information and communications technologies for empowerment. Some cyberfeminists see
these technologies as inherently liberatory and argue that their development will lead to an
end to male superiority because women are uniquely suited to life in the digital age (Millar,
1998). The term cyberfeminism, which explicitly fuses gender and information technology,
arose in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Hawthorne and Klein in their book,
“Cyberfeminism”, state: “Just as there are liberal, socialist, radical and postmodern
feminists, so too one finds these positions reflected in the interpretations of
Cyberfeminism” (Hawthorne & Klein, 1999).

Cyberfeminists saw the potential of the Internet and computer science as

technologies to level the playing field and open new avenues for job opportunities and
creativity for women where absence of sexism, racism, and other oppression would serve
as major contrasts between the virtual world and the real world.

Currently, there are not many clear and explicit applications of feminism theory in
the context of Information System research. However, the emerging area of cyberfeminism
can benefit from different types of feminism in order to build cyberfeminist theories.
Cyberfeminism uses aspects of different feminist theories to reflect many interactions
among information technologies, women, and feminism. Rosser (2005) believes that
Cyberfeminism appears currently to pick and choose among aspects of various feminist
theories in a somewhat uncritical fashion without developing a coherent or successor
theory. Therefore she proposes a brief exploration of what each of the feminist theories
suggests for this less developed theory of Cyberfeminism.

Feminist theory
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, or philosophical
ground. It encompasses work done in a broad variety of disciplines, prominently including
the approaches to women's roles and lives and feminist politics in anthropology and
sociology, economics, women's and gender studies, feminist literary criticism, and

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philosophy (especially Continental philosophy). Feminist theory aims to understand the

nature of inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations and sexuality. While
generally providing a critique of social relations, much of feminist theory also focuses on
analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests, and issues.
Themes explored in feminism include discrimination, stereotyping, objectification
(especially sexual objectification), oppression, and patriarchy.

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