Theory Butler Drill

Butler presents the Performativity Theory which has drawn much attention in feminism. She also carried on profound reflection to many important categories, such as sex, gender, women, body etc. Some researchers think that her reflection is necessary as it has brought new life to the development of feminism. However, other researchers argue that such reflection with deconstruction actually does damage to the feminism cause. Then how should the Performativity Theory be comprehended and evaluated? What position does it lay in the genealogy of feminism research? This paper is to make a further research on Butler’s Performativity Theory and make strict inspection of it.Chapter one:introduction. Apart from a brief introduction to some important works from Butler, this chapter will focus on two aspects:the recent researches on it at home and abroad which are the basis of our research and reflection; the significance and innovation of the research. This paper will take the outcomes from other researchers as a scale to make itself measured.Chapter two:an outline to the Performativity Theory. In this chapter, two main topics will be discussed:first, the retrospect to the ideological basis of the Performativity Theory-Foucault’s discourse theory, Derrida’s deconstructive perspective and Freud and Lacan’s psychoanalysis are the important sources of Performativity Theory; second, a rough presentation to four features of the Performativity Theory summed up in this paper, namely, theatricality of performativity, that performativity is a kind of behavior, that performativity has no subject and that performativity is citation and iteration.Chapter three:the genealogy of "a woman". Many people treat the answer to the question "what is a woman" as a necessary starting point of feminism cause. In the historical process of the development of feminism, there have been two important and different answers to this question:Essentialism and constructivism. According to this paper, instead of suffering from the tangle to make a choice from the above two viewpoints, Butler makes a new exploration with the method of genealogy and the idea of deconstruction. Basing her ideas on Levi Strauss and Gail Lubin’s "the exchang woman", Lacan and Riviere’s "disguis woman" and Freud’s "melancholia woman", Butler makes new investigations in her research with criticism as well as inheritance, thus forms her own point of view-"performative woman":a woman does not come before "exchange","disguise" and "melancholia", but the effect and result of them. In other words, a woman is produced by being "exchanged","disguised" and "melancholiaed".Chapter four:the genealogy of "body". Sex and gender are two categories that are the most basic, the most complex and the most controversial in feminism studies. In addition to the unique views of "gender", Butler holds a different understanding of sex. This paper will observe Butler’s point of view with the "body" serving as "an important representative of sex"--of course "body" does not means all for sex. People’s opinions on "what is the body" vary from one to another, so do the opinions on "what is the meaning of the body of a woman". By studying and reflecting Kristeva’s "the semiotic physical", Foucault’s hope for Herculine’s body and Wittig’s advocating of a "lesbian" body, Butler gradually draws a conclusion:the body is performativity-a body is produced by "symbolic order","pain" and "interpellation". As a result, Butler’s view of body becomes one of her views that bring her most acclamations as well as the most criticisms. Finally, this paper will make the "reproduction" the entry point, surveying and mapping Butler’s position in the feminism research on "body" genealogy.Chapter five:conclusion. Butler’s Performativity Theory has made special contribution to the development of feminism cause. By taking a deconstructive way of thinking, the theory gets out of the competition pattern between feminism and anti-feminism as well as the competition pattern between constructivism and essentialism making it possible for people to make research and get comprehension in a new way. Finally this paper will take Jameson’s idea as a reference to reflect on Performativity Theory as he regards works of art as the symbol of social behavior and "objective mirage". This paper will not only recognize the vanguard of it, but also envisage its limitation and reveal its meaning.