The Matrophobic Gothic and Its Legacy

Description:

"Although in recent years maternity has become a contested site of political discourse, the matrophobia that characterizes many mother-daughter bonds has hardly been theorized. This book defines matrophobia as fear of mothers, as fear of becoming a mother, and as fear of identification with and separation from the maternal body. Deborah D. Rogers argues that matrophobia is the central metaphor for women's relationships with each other within a patriarchal culture." "Analyzing different contexts in which matrophobia problematizes feminism, this book begins with matrophobic discourse in eighteenth-century England. Significantly, the self-sacrificing construction of motherhood emerges at the same time as the novel, a genre that develops as a locus for the radical displacement of matrophobia."--BOOK JACKET.

subjects: History and criticism,  English fiction,  Women in popular culture,  Mothers in literature,  Mothers and daughters in literature,  Femininity in popular culture,  Soap operas,  Motherhood in literature,  Femininity in literature,  Motherhood in popular culture,  English fiction, history and criticism, 18th century,  English fiction, history and criticism, 19th century,  Television soap operas

Places: United States

Times: 19th century,  18th century