The Feminism of Parrhesia: From Confession to Parrhesia

Abstract

In this thesis I will look at the case of identity in contemporary as well as second-wave feminism with regards to confessional poetry. Second-wave feminism focussed on a consciousness raising movement, specifically for women. The rise of confessional poetry was part of this movement; it was about disclosing the I, the woman whose inner life was ignored, as honestly as possible. There was a focus on very personal experiences, such as mental health, sexuality and suicide. In modern times though, feminism is focussed on a very broad range of subjects. Instead of “we, women” and the specific labeling, for example in sexuality, in order to take a stand, there is even a trend recently where people refuse to define themselves according to labels. In these times however, poetry of disclosure is still very popular, with the rise of social media poetry and spoken word. Confessional poetry was traditionally about revealing “the true self”; according to Foucault, we subjectify ourselves and take up an identity through power relations. Self-formation relies on renunciating the self in order to become something else. This relates to Judith Butler’s concept of performativity: our identity or gender is construed with a repetition of acts. Our identity, according to both, has no ontological status apart from the acts which create the illusion of a core self, by subjectifying ourselves and performing what we are to be. The poststructuralist theory of identity is then, is that it is primarily fluid: there is no fixed identity. This relates to the contemporary trend of non-identity and refusing identity, yet still there is the popular disclosure of personal poetry. My argumentation is to, instead of relating this poetry to confessionals, to relate it to another theory explicated by Foucault called parrhesia. Parrhesia is about taking a critical stand versus the higher powers, speaking truth and in this way forming the self, constituting an ethical self. Butler adds that parrhesia is a critical de-subjectivation, with the risk we might become unintelligible within normative practices: these are called into question. I then analyse three poets according to this new term Parrhesiastic Poetry: Rupi Kaur, Sabrina Benaim and Raquelle Isabelle de Alderete. Parrhesiastic poetry thus, is important for feminism nowadays as a critical self-forming practice.