FEMINIST POSTMODERN DISRUPTION OF THE PATRIARCHAL SYSTEM OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS:
PRAXIS IN FOUR PHASES
Hanan A. Muzaffar
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
August 2000
Dissertation Chairman: Dr. Patrick D. Murphy
Dissertation Committee Members: Dr. Martha G. Bower
Dr. Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés
ABSTRACT
As a feminist concerned with elevating the fight against women’s oppression, I am interested in trying to seek out the causes for such subjugation and the ways by which women can put an end to this subjugation. One of the strongest arguments posed in this direction is one that sees that women’s oppression is connected to the Western view that rests on a strong belief in the validity of observing the world in terms of binary oppositions and in the necessity of proving that one side of the binary is always elevated above the other side. The need to disrupt this belief in the binary system is therefore a necessary one if women are to succeed in escaping their oppression.
In this dissertation I present four phases towards the disruption of the system of binary oppositions, demonstrate how literature manifests these phases, and analyze their implications for literary theory and criticism. The first phase uses postmodern theory to explain how the Western system of binaries works, and what it jeopardizes. In the second phase French feminists’ arguments enable the subversion of the binaries when the marginalized assert their existence by reclaiming the same values that cause their subjugation. In the third phase, the two sides of the binary come together and our multiplicity and interdependence become that which defines us, instead of the former duality. The fourth phase enables an understanding of how the second and third phases, which are often pitted as opposing ones, are indeed interwoven.
The arguments used to demonstrate this theory of phases enables an openness towards further work within this field as it refuses to limit our perception of how feminist theory should be defined. Although I present a theory of four phases applied mainly to marginalized texts, the nature of this argument suggests that we are not to be limited by these phases or these texts but are to be open to any further additions necessary in order not to remain prisoners of any system; be it the patriarchal system of binary oppositions or my own system of four phases.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Writing a dissertation is a process that cannot be accomplished by one person alone. For this work to come into shape I am indebted to a number of people.
I would first like to thank my husband, Mahmoud Hasan, and my two sons, Bader and Ahmed, who were uprooted from their home, family, and friends in order to join me in this long-hoped-for scholarly journey and also for putting up with the neglect that was their share from that process of their wife/mother writing a dissertation. I would also like to thank my mother, Zahra Al-Koot, and my father, Abdul-Mohsin Muzaffar, who were the initial source of encouragement to me for as long as I can remember, even when this encouragement forced them to be deprived of their beloved grandchildren. I especially thank my mother who was ever-ready to resolve me of my family duties and allow me my own time for writing.
I thank my colleagues who provided me with a sounding platform on which my ideas were reflected, and my youngest sister, Shurouq, whose continuous interest in my work always helped me to look at the whole picture. A simple question: “So what are you writing about?” can have amazing effects.
I would also like to thank my instructor and advisor at Kuwait University, Dr. Zahra Hussein, who was the first to advise me to move beyond my Bachelor’s Degree and aim for the Doctorate Degree. Her class in critical theory was the launching pod for my work in feminist and postmodern theory.
Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my instructors at Indiana University of Pennsylvania who helped me develop and shape my ideas into an intelligent, readable dissertation. I thank Dr. Patrick Murphy for his willingness to direct my dissertation and for his ability always to help me articulate what is in my mind. I thank Dr. Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés for introducing me to a whole new world of literature and theory through the works of black Americans and Chicanas and for never failing to lift my spirits through her words of praise. I thank Dr. Martha Bower who, in spite of her already crowded schedule, was willing to devote some time for reading my dissertation and reminding me always to clarify my points for my readers. I also thank Dr. Michael Vella for being the first to see some hope in me, Dr. David Downing and Dr. Roxann Wheeler for their insightful theory classes, Dr. Karen Dandurand for reminding me that feminist writing has existed for a long time, and all my other instructors at Indiana university of Pennsylvania whose names, if not mentioned here, remain with me nonetheless.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE UNDERSTANDING THE SYSTEM OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS
CHAPTER TWO WHEN THE “OTHER’ SPEAKS: SUBVERTING THE SYSTEM
CHAPTER THREE ON MULTIPLICITY AND RECIPROCITY
CHAPTER FOUR ESSENTIALISM AND/OR CONSTRUCTIONISM: THE MARGINAL DISRUPTS THE BINARY