Useful essays examining the “notion of difference” in early feminist criticism and
identifying issues that remain current. Judith Kegan Gardiner’s “On Female Iden-
tity and Writing by Women” addresses problems in theoretical discussions of what
makes women’s writing different from men’s. Also useful is Elaine Showalter’s
“Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness,” which identifies varied feminist method-
ologies and ideologies and calls for their unification.
Cathy N. Davidson and Linda Wagner-Martin, eds., The Oxford Companion to
Women’s Writing in the United States (New York: Oxford University Press,
1995).
Essential resource of more than eight hundred entries that provide biographi-
cal and bibliographical information about women writers and about literary
styles, genres, and institutions important to women’s writing. Also useful are
the time line of important activities and advances by women and the general
bibliography.
Cynthia J. Davis and Kathryn West, Women Writers in the United States: A Time-
line of Literary, Cultural, and Social History (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1996).
An account of American women’s literature in an accessible time-line format that
treats a variety of types of women’s writing (fiction, poetry, biography, essay, advice
columns, and cookbooks) alongside a chronology of developments in social and
cultural history significant to women’s lives.
Josephine Donovan, Feminist Theory: The Intellectual Traditions of American Femi-
nism (New York: Ungar, 1992).
Survey and analysis of the development of American feminist theory until 1982,
discussing feminism, poststructuralism, multiculturalism.
Rita Felski, Literature after Feminism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
2003).
Although not focused entirely on contemporary American literature, offers an
excellent assessment of feminist approaches to writing while dismantling the
notion that the literary and political values of a work are mutually exclusive. The
discussion in chapter 3 of various forms of plot is particularly useful.
Suzanne Ferriss and Mallory Young, “A Generational Divide over Chick Lit,”
Chronicle of Higher Education, 52 (26 May 2006): 13–14; http://chronicle.
com/article/A-Generational-Divide-Over-/1668/ [accessed 14 January
2010].
Short essay discussing the interest of younger scholars in a popular literary genre,
which is dismissed by those who are more established.
Ferriss and Young, eds., Chick Lit: The New Woman’s Fiction (New York: Rout-
ledge, 2005).
Useful collection of essays treating themes and variations of the genre. Essays
included in part 3 examine manifestations of feminism and postfeminism in
works.