دانلود کتاب The Fantasy of Feminist History

In "The Fantasy of Feminist History", Joan Wallach Scott argues that feminist perspectives on history are enriched by psychoanalytic concepts, particularly fantasy. Tracing the evolution of her thinking about gender over the course of her career, the pioneering historian explains how her search for ways to more forcefully insist on gender as mutable rather than fixed or stable led her to psychoanalytic theory, which posits sexual difference as an insoluble dilemma. Scott suggests that it is the futile struggle to hold meaning in place that makes gender such an interesting historical object, an object that includes not only regimes of truth about sex and sexuality but also fantasies and transgressions that refuse to be regulated or categorized. Fantasy undermines any notion of psychic immutability or fixed identity, infuses rational motives with desire, and contributes to the actions and events that come to be narrated as history. Questioning the standard parameters of historiography and feminist politics, Scott advocates fantasy as a useful, even necessary, concept for feminist historical analysis.

Reviews:

"The importance of Scott's book lies in its refusal of a damaging spatial binary of surface and depth. Surface readers accuse ‘depth’ readers of not being aware of their own fantasies as readers, in turn, they are agnostic about knowing such entanglements in their surface readings. It is precisely the entanglements of the reader and text and the fantasies of historical knowledge that Scott engages. Her critical reading practice insists not only on close reading of the text, but also close reading of the reader herself.” — Kathleen Biddick, Journal of Social History

“The impressive yield of this anthology is that it deals with supposedly familiar subjects but still succeeds in opening up a new discussion. ... Scott delivers interesting discussions over many theoretical concepts, and her diagnosis, with the help of psychoanalysis, of the discipline’s shortcomings is striking.” — Angelika Epple, History and Theory

“The Fantasy of Feminist History deal with one of the oldest and most difficult problems faced by feminist historians across the generations: how is it possible to account for emotions, passions, feelings, desires and fantasies while doing historical research? It is easy to predict that the arguments – and the book – will play a central role in theoretical and methodological debates among scholars working on gender issues in years to come.” — Paola Di Cori, European Journal of Women's Studies