The Regime Of The Brother (opening Out: Feminism For Today) - Juliet Flower Maccannell

The Regime of the Brother is one of the first attempts to challenge modernity on its own terms. Using the work of Lacan, Kristeva and Freud, Juliet MacCannell confronts the failure of modernity to bring about the social equality promised by the Enlightenment. While the fraternal model of society, which replaced Patriarchy, appeared to be more democratic, it was founded upon the suppression of the ''sister'', or woman. In the new society, the paternal function was not dead, but merely usurped by the elder Brother. On the verge of its destruction, the Patriarchy has reshaped itself into a new, and often more oppressive regime. What was the place of women in this society? Examining a range of literary and social texts - from Rousseau's Confessions to Richardson's Clarissa and from Stendhal's De L'Amourto James's What Maisie Knew and Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea- MacCannell suggests that, under the Regime of the Brother, feminine subjectivity can exist in only two forms: one is shaped by the dominant masculine culture; the other, at present undeveloped, would provide a grounding for the female subject which did not involve silencing an 'other' in order to assert itself.

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