The Regime of the Brother: After the Patriarchy (Opening Out Series) [first edition]

"The Regime of the Brother" is one of the first attempts to challenge modernity on its own terms. Using the work of Lacan, Kristeva and Freud, Juliet MacCannell confronts the failure of modernity to bring about the social equality promised by the Enlightenment. While the fraternal model of society which replaced patriarchy appeared to be more democratic, it was founded upon the suppression of the sister, or woman. In the new society, the paternal function was not dead, but merely usurped by the elder brother. On the verge of its destruction, the patriarchy has reshaped itself into a new, and often more oppressive regime. What was the place of women in this society? Examining a range of literary and social texts - from Rousseau's "Confessions" to Richardson's "Clarissa" and from Stendhal's "De L'Amour" to James's "What Maisie Knew" and Jean Rhys's "Wide Sargasso Sea" - MacCannell suggests that, under "The Regime of the Brother", feminine subjectivity can exist in only two forms: one is shaped by the dominant masculine culture; the other, at present undeveloped, would provide a grounding for the female subject which did not involve silencing an other in order to assert itself. This book should be of interest to advanced students of feminist and critical theory, comparative literature and psychoanalysis.