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Deconstructing Boundaries: Autotheory’s Feminist Legacy
Abstract
Autotheory is a feminist style of writing and artistic practice that integrates lived experiences with critical theory and/or philosophy. Having roots in a long history of feminist literature, philosophy, and activism, autotheory deconstructs traditional boundaries such as those between theory and practice, the personal and the theoretical, art and life, and mind and body. This article outlines the feminist genealogy of autotheory, tracing its roots from the eighteenth-century women’s confessional writing, through second-wave feminist ideas such as “the personal is political,” to poststructuralist critiques of Cartesian subjectivity, postmodern feminist notions of gender performativity, and intersectional feminist interventions. It also highlights how autotheory resists the phallocentric hierarchies of knowledge production. Moreover, it examines the transformative potential of autotheory due to its re-definition of the self as plural, diverse and relational through strategies like citation and collaborative writing. Ultimately, this study emphasises autotheory’s role in dismantling traditional epistemic structures regarding subjectivity and theory-making while providing a space for marginalized voices to engage in theoretical discourse through lived experiences.
Keywords
References
- Ahmed, Sara. Living a Feminist Life. Duke University Press, 2017.
- Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. Translated by H. M. Parshley, Penguin Books, 1949.
- Butler, Judith. “The Body You Want: An Interview with Judith Butler,” Interview by Liz Kotz. Artforum 32, no. 3 (1992): 82-89. https://www.artforum.com/features/the-body-you-want-an-inteview-with-judith-butler-203347/
- -----. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge, 1990.
- -----. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory,” Theatre Journal 40, no. 4 (1988): 519–31.
- Cavitch, Max. “Everybody’s Autotheory,” PMLA 137, no. 1 (2022): 81-85.
- Cixous, Hélène. “The Laugh of the Medusa,” Translated by Keith Cohen and Paula Cohen, Signs 1, no. 4 (1976): 875–93.
- Clare, Ralph. “Becoming Autotheory,” Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture, and Theory 76, no. 1 (2020): 85-107.
Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Applied Philosophy (Other)
Journal Section
Research Article
Publication Date
June 2, 2025
Submission Date
March 22, 2025
Acceptance Date
May 5, 2025
Published in Issue
Year 2025 Number: 23
APA
Sarıkaya, İ., & Akçeşme, B. (2025). Deconstructing Boundaries: Autotheory’s Feminist Legacy. Temaşa Erciyes Üniversitesi Felsefe Bölümü Dergisi, 23, 230-246. https://doi.org/10.55256/temasa.1663144
AMA
1.Sarıkaya İ, Akçeşme B. Deconstructing Boundaries: Autotheory’s Feminist Legacy. Temasa Journal of Philosophy. 2025;(23):230-246. doi:10.55256/temasa.1663144
Chicago
Sarıkaya, İlmiye, and Banu Akçeşme. 2025. “Deconstructing Boundaries: Autotheory’s Feminist Legacy”. Temaşa Erciyes Üniversitesi Felsefe Bölümü Dergisi, nos. 23: 230-46. https://doi.org/10.55256/temasa.1663144.
EndNote
Sarıkaya İ, Akçeşme B (June 1, 2025) Deconstructing Boundaries: Autotheory’s Feminist Legacy. Temaşa Erciyes Üniversitesi Felsefe Bölümü Dergisi 23 230–246.
IEEE
[1]İ. Sarıkaya and B. Akçeşme, “Deconstructing Boundaries: Autotheory’s Feminist Legacy”, Temasa Journal of Philosophy, no. 23, pp. 230–246, June 2025, doi: 10.55256/temasa.1663144.
ISNAD
Sarıkaya, İlmiye - Akçeşme, Banu. “Deconstructing Boundaries: Autotheory’s Feminist Legacy”. Temaşa Erciyes Üniversitesi Felsefe Bölümü Dergisi. 23 (June 1, 2025): 230-246. https://doi.org/10.55256/temasa.1663144.
JAMA
1.Sarıkaya İ, Akçeşme B. Deconstructing Boundaries: Autotheory’s Feminist Legacy. Temasa Journal of Philosophy. 2025;:230–246.
MLA
Sarıkaya, İlmiye, and Banu Akçeşme. “Deconstructing Boundaries: Autotheory’s Feminist Legacy”. Temaşa Erciyes Üniversitesi Felsefe Bölümü Dergisi, no. 23, June 2025, pp. 230-46, doi:10.55256/temasa.1663144.
Vancouver
1.İlmiye Sarıkaya, Banu Akçeşme. Deconstructing Boundaries: Autotheory’s Feminist Legacy. Temasa Journal of Philosophy. 2025 Jun. 1;(23):230-46. doi:10.55256/temasa.1663144