in understanding contemporary British fiction‚ I will be using the example of ‘Sexing The Cherry’ written by Jeanette Winterson. The works that can be closely linked with this novel first published in 1989 are those of theorist and historian Michel Foucault. His ideas on sexuality mirror the ideas of sexuality used in Sexing The Cherry (Winterson. J 1989‚ 47-60). Postmodernism affects the way that we read a text‚ but why is that more important than reading a text for its own individual merit. Postmodernism
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Critical Theory – Overview In the humanities and social sciences‚ critical theory is the examination and critique of society and literature‚ drawing from knowledge across social sciences and humanities disciplines. The term has two quite different meanings with different origins and histories‚ one originating in social theory and the other in literary criticism. Though until recently these two meanings had little to do with each other‚ since the 1970s there has been some overlap between these
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definition of deviance. The concepts of capitalism and Marxism have been used extensively during the process of defining deviance by the state. Crime is defined by the law and practiced through imprisonment and other punishments. For example‚ Michael Foucault was a strong believer in the states power to provide a model of discipline‚ as described in his book Discipline and Punish (1977). He believed that since deviance will always be inevitable in the law‚ the function of imprisonment may indeed be to
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Panopticon is an idea first illustrated by a circular prison in which all the cells are open to an area in the center where a tower sits. The tower in the center is meant to be blacked out so that it is impossible for the inmates to peer inside. Foucault states the purpose of the Panopticon to create a situation in which‚ “inmates should be caught up in in a power situation of which they are themselves the bearers” (288). The psychological effect on inmates causes them to be inline out of fear that
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Michel Foucault‚ author of Madness and Civilization‚ devotes an entire chapter to discussing this theory‚ he asserts that: “The distractions of our mind is the result of our blind surrender to our desires‚ our incapacity to control or to moderate our passions
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Until the mid-1970s‚ rehabilitation was a key part of U.S. prison policy. Individuals convicted of criminal behavior were encouraged to develop occupational skills and to resolve psychological problems that might interfere with their reintegration into society. Subsequently‚ many inmates received court sentences that mandated treatment for such problems. However‚ rehabilitation has taken a back seat to the retributive approach‚ which sees punishment as a prison’s main function. This approach has
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Sociology of Medicine (Health and Illness) Words are inadequate… “Medical sociology centers on the social construction of health and illness –that is‚ a construction shaped by many elements of the social order and often independent from biomedical phenomena. In this perspective‚ medical sociology links together and makes sense of the varied manifestations of health and illness: biomedical data‚ professional practice‚ institutional structures‚ social policy‚ economics and financing
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Different sociological theories advance different arguments about the way in which particular forms of social power (political‚ economic‚ cultural & technological)‚ shape distinctive characteristics of modern societies and the consequent changes in previous forms of such power. Debates about power necessarily involve different understandings of both the nature of social reality (ontology)‚ and how we best go about acquiring knowledge of that reality (epistemology). An important issue in this debate
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actualized. Through the awareness of historical critique there can be the promotion of social justice. Michel Foucault has been at the forefront of reinterpreting history since the 20th century. In Carolyn J. Dean’s article in History and Theory‚ “The Productive Hypothesis: Foucault‚ Gender‚ and the History of Sexuality” highlights and critiques on the technologies of sex‚ a theory of Foucault‚ aids in the separation of further reinforced social
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“external objects do not produce the same impression on the sufferer’s mind as on that of a healthy man; these impressions are weak‚ and the sufferer rarely heeds them” (Foucault‚ p.130). The mental illness causes “‘these have such a degree of vivacity that the sufferer believes the represent real objects‚ and judges accordingly.’” (Foucault‚ p.130) Gulliver is so fixated with the slender notions of the Houyhnhnms that he becomes ignorant concerning any truths that reveal otherwise. The hospitality which
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