Misogynous economies
Subtitle: the business of literature in eighteenth-century Britain
By: Laura Mandell.
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Lexington
Language: eng
Number of pages: 228
Subjects: English literature -- 18th century -- History and criticism.; Misogyny in literature.; Capitalism and literature -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.; Women and literature -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.; English literature -- Women authors -- History and criticism.; Capitalists and financiers in literature.; Economics in literature.; Ethics in literature.; Women in literature.; Rape in literature.
Description: "The eighteenth century saw the birth of the concept of literature as business: literature critiqued and promoted capitalism, and books themselves became highly marketable canonical objects. During this period, misogynous representations of women often served to advance capitalist desires and to redirect feelings of antagonism toward the emerging capitalist order."--BOOK JACKET.

"Misogynous Economies proposes that oppression of women may not have been the primary goal of these misogynistic depictions. Using psychoanalytic concepts developed by Julia Kristeva, Mandell argues that passionate feelings about the alienating socioeconomic changes brought on by capitalism were displaced onto representations that inspired hatred of women and disgust with the female body. Such displacements also played a role in canon formation.

The accepted literary canon resulted not simply from choices made by eighteenth-century critics but also, as Mandell argues, from editorial and production practices designed to stimulate readers' desires to identify with male poets."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-211) and index.