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SIGNALS: THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN LITERACY, GENDER, AND SEMIOTICS
Title
SIGNALS: THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN LITERACY, GENDER, AND SEMIOTICS.
Creator
Parker, Patricia, Preston-Sidler, Leandra, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The purpose of this study is to examine adult literacy beyond its constraints as a social problem and instead consider the implications of illiteracy as a particular form of lived experience, analogous to women's oppression at large. Through a complex system of meaning making, the knowledge accrued by illiterate adults is qualitatively different, and examining these differences in terms of their correlation to coping mechanisms developed in the face of social alienation and diminished...
Show moreThe purpose of this study is to examine adult literacy beyond its constraints as a social problem and instead consider the implications of illiteracy as a particular form of lived experience, analogous to women's oppression at large. Through a complex system of meaning making, the knowledge accrued by illiterate adults is qualitatively different, and examining these differences in terms of their correlation to coping mechanisms developed in the face of social alienation and diminished professional prospects yields a greater understanding of class privilege and how nontraditional learners fit into a larger social structure. From the perspective of academic feminism, adult illiteracy presents several problems regarding the scope of an inclusive feminist community that acknowledges privilege and difference. The primary method through which information regarding feminism is conferred is printed materials, which utilize highly specific, specialized jargon, and unwittingly create an exclusive community marred by internalized racism and class stratifications. This study explores other methods through which feminist ideation might theoretically be possible, i.e. cultural "reading" communities and vocational and continuing education programs focused on cultural competencies, as women come out of their imposed silences and become aware of their circumstances in a way that resembles feminist thought, if perhaps without sophisticated language with which to communicate those ideals. In this way, feminist ideation and semiotics tie in together, as attitudinal change may occur without the semantic realization of what this entails. This goal of this paper is also, in part, to justify why acknowledging gendered learning differences and a particular female subjectivity for adult literacy clients will yield better results for their self-valuation, as gender is a component of diversity all but ignored within the scheme of adult literacy pedagogical theory.
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Date Issued
2012
Identifier
CFH0004266, ucf:44963
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004266
THREE WAVES OF UNDERGROUND FEMINISM IN ÂÂ"SOFTÂÂ" CONSCIOUS-RAISING NOVELS
Title
THREE WAVES OF UNDERGROUND FEMINISM IN ÂÂ"SOFTÂÂ" CONSCIOUS-RAISING NOVELS.
Creator
Perez, Jeannina, Jones, Anna, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
In the chapters of my thesis, I explore how ÂÂ"softÂÂ" consciousness-raising novels of the first, second and third-waves of feminism practice underground feminism by covertly exposing womenÂÂ's socio-political issues outside of the confines of feminist rhetoric. In moving away from the negative connotations of political language, the authors enable the education of female audiences otherwise out of reach. Working from and extending...
Show moreIn the chapters of my thesis, I explore how ÂÂ"softÂÂ" consciousness-raising novels of the first, second and third-waves of feminism practice underground feminism by covertly exposing womenÂÂ's socio-political issues outside of the confines of feminist rhetoric. In moving away from the negative connotations of political language, the authors enable the education of female audiences otherwise out of reach. Working from and extending on various theorists, I construct a theoretical model for what I term underground feminism. Running on the principal of conducting feminist activism without using feminist rhetoric, underground feminism challenges the notion that ÂÂ"subtleÂÂ" feminism means weak feminism. In illustrating how underground feminism works in novels and in physical activism, I hope to encourage the recognition of the political utility of womenÂÂ's writings that do not fit the strict archetypes of feminist authorship. Analyzing the effectiveness of covert feminist conversion narratives, I discuss one soft consciousness-raising novel for each wave. The novelsÂÂ--Sarah GrandÂÂ's The Heavenly Twins (1893), Dorothy BryantÂÂ's Ella PriceÂÂ's Journal (1972), and Helen FieldingÂÂ's Bridget Jones's Diary (1996)ÂÂ--accused by scholars of employing weak feminist politics, are investigated as feminist literature that disidentifies with the feminist label with the possibility of facilitating a wide spread conversion process in ÂÂ"would beÂÂ" feminists. After analyzing how the novels place womenÂÂ's issues at the center of discourse by discussing female education, womenÂÂ's voice, and narrative control, I consider how the underground feminism implicit in the texts extends to activism outside of literature. I also end by arguing that these novels enable a more intricate conversation about womenÂÂ's issues in which the voices of both self-identified and non-identified feminists are recognized.
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Date Issued
2010
Identifier
CFE0003329, ucf:48456
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003329