Male Authors, Female Subjects

Book excerpt: In the wake of feminist and poststructuralist contributions to literary study, how can we read images of women in literature written by men? Is it possible to read anything other than appropriation or misrepresentation in these male portraits of women? Starting with these questions, Van Oostrum looks for openings in a debate that seems to be firmly locked into traditional gender roles. While contemporary literary theory works hard to dismantle oppressive binaries, questions about the representation of an other' often lead back to a dizzying number of rigid identities. Through an examination of Henry Adams's and Henry James's attempts to write about American women, Van Oostrum tries to have it both ways, at once holding on to gendered cultural identity and at the same time challenging a stable personality. Using the sentimental fiction written by women in the 1850s, James and Adams write about the new women' of the turn of the 20th century. Traversing multiple oceans, they increasingly entangle concepts of gender and nationality, othering' not only women but the culture of Europe and the South Seas as well. An analogous movement of a male translation of female American sentimental fiction intersected with national identities, the author argues, takes place in two Dutch novels of the late 19th century. By looking through a Dutch lens at American literature, this book on possible gender crossings shows cultural identities always to be on the move. Crossing from the male author to the female subject on such an international landscape, the author tries to navigate a place for women within and beyond literature written by men.