An Ecofeminist Study Of Meridel Le Sueur’s Literary Writing

Influential American writer of the proletarian literature movement,Meridel Le Sueur(1900-1996)published works deeply influenced by ideals of feminism,environmentalism,and socialism.Le Sueur’s works also feature their own unique interpretations and represent the unique connections found in the dichotomies between human and nature,women and nature,men and women,the upper classes and lower classes,and slaveholders and the enslaved during the Jim Crow era.Examining these connections in a holistic manner,Le Sueur’s writings analyze the complex and often intertwined nature of these concepts.While Le Sueur’s works appear in contemporary academic discourse,there still appears to be a lack of discussion of her publications by ecological critics despite their sharp illustration of the interplay between man and nature.Le Sueur’s works prominently feature explorations of race,class,gender,social justice,and environment,exploring environmental justice in American literature.From this perspective of ecofeminist thought,Le Sueur’s writings reinforce and uplift the ideals of vulnerable groups and left-wing literature.This reflects a liberal worldview and belief in justice as a point of ideology for Le Sueur’s political beliefs as well.Thus,ecofeminism proves useful to interpret Le Sueur’s literary creations.This dissertation seeks to examine Le Sueur’s works through an ecofeminist lens in hopes of contributing more to the field of ecocriticism.This dissertation studies Le Sueur’s literary works in three distinct parts.The introduction compiles key aspects of Le Sueur’s research at home and abroad.Next,the main body illustrates the significance of Le Sueur’s reaearch within the history of American literature,with an emphasis on the distinct inclusion of ecological consciousness and feminist lens featured in her works.The conclusion brings together the significance of Le Sueur’s literary works to the field of ecocriticism,especially ecofeminist theory.The main body includes four chapters.Chapter I “The Writing of Gender Issues:Female Identity in a Patriarchal Society” discusses the following three aspects:“ women and men: language and physical resistance,” “identity and status:reconstruction of female identity,” “center and periphery: the integration of boundary and overlapping”.The first sections analyze in Le Sueur’s works that the bonds of women within communities formed and based on gender to eschew the societal stereotype of women being subordinate to men.The following section breaks down how in an era of male literature as the aesthetic standard,women writers reinvented female images to make their literary works more socially acceptable within a system that emphasized male literature as dominant.With the transformation and development of society,many left-wing female writers fought marginalization through literary creation,reconstructed the identity of women in society,and changed from the condition of silent failure of language to a reconstruction of authority in women’s voices.The last sections emphasize the intersectionality of the center and the periphery,and applies this concept to Le Sueur’s works.Chapter II “A Discussion of Environmental Consciousness: The Universal Logic of Domination” discusses: “being close to nature: is a unique way for women to survive”,“body language: from rejection to constructed communities” and “women and animals: the typical others in the patriarchal society”.This chapter argues that women’s closeness to nature may cure the violence imposed by patriarchal society on both women and nature and provides spiritual comfort,leading into an analysis of body and environment in Le Sueur’s body writing.The body is an indispensable part of ecofeminist theory.The description of the female body awakens environmental comparisons of women being dominated and oppressed in ecofeminist consciousness.Women also experience socioeconomic pressures caused by a lack of labor rights and social protections.Le Sueur’s bold description of women as animals expect to elimate the use of gendered and sexist language in the society to describe women or the environment-a main tenant of ecofeminist efforts.Chapter III “Criticism of Class Oppression: The Capitalist Nature of Power”discusses issues concerning class and power.From the “group under class oppression,?the same origin’ to ?the same oppression’,?the double oppression’ of class,the construction of the ?collective’” three sections are elaborated.This chapter begins with the fate of the proletariat suffering from the control by the capitalist class in Le Sueur’s works.Conditions faced include poor living conditions,food shortages,excessive and forced labor,and physical exhaustion.Within a male-dominated society,women and nature are united together from original homogeneity to oppression homogeneity.Only by recognizing the sameness of the oppression towards marginalized groups,can the real ecofeminism literature critical discourse be constructed.Working classes,especially the female working class bearing the brunt of“double oppression” appear united by their struggles and build “women-centered collectivism”.Le Sueur reckons that the collectivism serves as a source of strength for women as the social environment deteriorates due to further isolation.Chapter IV “Ethnic Identity Discourse: Cultural Identity and Identity Consciousness” argues that white people position themselves at the top of social hierarchy,causing structural violence through racial discrimination and cultural hegemony over non-white minority groups.The first section of this chapter “identity gap: the absence of identity in marginalized groups” explains that marginalized groups suffered from the subjugation enacted from the remnants of chattel slavery,apartheid,colonialism,and even microaggressions in Le Sueur’s works.Marginalized groups have their identities and social status threatened for centuries.The second section “periphery of periphery: the oppression of double periphery” introduces the marginalized social status of colored women,who suffer from both racial and gender discrimination,facing double oppression.Overlapping oppressions relegate marginalized women of color to the periphery of society.The third section “identity resistance: seeking identity reconstruction” examines identity resistance,namely the reconstruction of identity from marginalized women at the bottom of society.Although men of color or white women may also face structural inequalities,their social status is higher than that of women of color.Despite the disadvantages of their gender and race in society,Le Sueur calls on that identity resistance should become a way for women of color to fight injustices.The conclusion summarizes the dissertation,analyzing the relationship between man and nature,women and men,and humans and society through Le Sueur’s literary works,emphasizing her multi-dimensional support for marginalized groups.In patriarchal societies,uniting marginalized groups may harness the power to construct a harmonious society between man and nature,man and society,and humans within society.As an American communist,Le Sueur’s thoughts proved radical,and her works advanced discussions on a series of important social issues such as race,class,gender and the environment.Most significantly,Le Sueur showed her intersectional recognition and sympathy for the plight of marginalized groups.Ecofeminism with its wholistic lens provides a new vision for a deeper and more intentional interpretation of Le Sueur’s literary works and an feasible example of the construction of a wholistic criticism.