The Female Writer as Representation of the Other

Bell Hooks, in her work entitled “Postmodern Blackness” discusses the notion that there is a failure to recognize the presence of the black female writer in the realm of postmodernism. She questions that if in a world that is discussing the topic of “othering” the black woman is still not included, then where will there ever be a space for her writing? This notion proves interesting to me in that, for my final paper, I am focusing on the representation of the other in society, something which is also on Hooks’ mind. Similarly, Mary Shelley experiences the female “othering” in the realm of writing, in that her work was originally published under her husband’s name. Thus, this lack of inclusion of females in the literary world depicts the struggle between the male dominant class and the female “other” that is attempting to assimilate into it. As with various instances in the discussion of the factions in society, the group that is othered must exist on the outskirts of society, slowly trying to permeate into the accepted faction. This is often not something that is easily achieved, being that the presence of the other forces into question the foundation upon which the dominant class was built. However, in the case of female writers, it is obvious that they were able to achieve inclusion, and through doing so, prove that their work and ideas were, and are just as valid as those of their male peers.