Table of Contents
- Question 61: Assertions on Cultural Studies
- Question 62: Subculture: The Meaning of Style
- Question 63: Quote on Neo-colonialism
- Question 64: The Goal of Schizoanalysis
- Question 65: False Statements on Feminist Movement
- Question 66: Assumptions of Post-feminism
- Question 67: Feminist Literary Criticism Issues
- Question 68: Feminist Critics and Objectification
- Question 69: Chronology of Feminist Texts
Question 61
Which assertions are not true in the context of Cultural Studies?
A. Popular culture means the set of practices, beliefs and objects that embody the most broadly shared meanings of a social system
B. Dominant culture signifies the invisible aspects of our practices and attitudes
C. Residual culture is that part of the old cultural practices that remain in traces in modern culture.
D. The discipline is comparatively new and is opposed to rigid methods associated with traditional Marxist approaches
E. It discourages the audibility of women in public spaces
Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
The statements that are NOT true about Cultural Studies are B and E:
(B) is false: Dominant culture is typically highly visible, normative, and actively enforced (hegemonic), rather than just "invisible aspects."
(E) is false: Cultural Studies actively analyzes and encourages the audibility and visibility of marginalized groups, including women (integrating heavily with feminist theory).
Statements A, C (Raymond Williams's concept of residual culture), and D accurately describe the field.
Question 62
Who wrote the book Subculture: The Meaning of Style (1979)?
Dick Hebdige's seminal 1979 work Subculture: The Meaning of Style explores the styles of Britain's postwar youth subcultures (like punks, mods, Teddy boys, and skinheads) as symbolic forms of resistance.
Hebdige was closely associated with the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) and was mentored by Stuart Hall, expanding upon Hall's theories of encoding/decoding and Marxist cultural critique.
Question 63
“Neo-colonialism is the worst form of imperialism for those who practice it, it means power without responsibility and for those who suffer from it... It means exploitation without redress.”
Identify the author.
This profound quote belongs to Kwame Nkrumah, the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana.
He articulated the paradox of neo-colonialism in his significant 1965 work, Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism. He argued that while formerly colonized states appear politically independent, they remain economically and structurally exploited by Western powers, creating a system of "exploitation without redress."
Question 64
The goal of Schizoanalysis is:
Schizoanalysis is a concept developed by philosopher Gilles Deleuze and psychoanalyst Félix Guattari in their landmark book Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (1972).
It acts as a critique of traditional Freudian psychoanalysis. Its goal is to scrutinize how desire (libidinal investments) functions not just within the family (the Oedipus complex), but across broader socio-economic and political spheres (such as capitalism).
Question 65
Which among the following are not true about Feminist Movement?
A. Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman challenges the notion that women exist only to please men.
B. Issue of women's suffrage dominated international feminism for more than fifty years.
C. The Female Eunuch was written and published by an African writer named Sarah Millin.
D. Kate Millet's Sexual Politics broadened the term 'politics' to include all "power-structured relationships".
E. The second wave of feminism was led by Generation Xers.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below.
The statements that are NOT true about the Feminist Movement are C and E:
(C) is false: The Female Eunuch (1970) was written by Germaine Greer, an Australian feminist, not Sarah Millin.
(E) is false: The second wave of feminism (1960s-1980s) was led predominantly by the Baby Boomer and Silent Generation cohorts, not Generation Xers (who were children or not yet born during the peak of the second wave).
Question 66
Which of the following assumptions are not true with reference to post-feminism?
A. Post-feminism is based on the postulates of feminism laid down by Elaine Showalter
B. A discourse popularised by the mass media in 1990s reflecting a reaction against the feminist theories of 1970s and 1980s
C. Post-feminism establishes the relevance of gender binary where man is essentially powerful
D. Post-feminism is characterized by emphasis on femininity as well as on the 'career woman'
E. Postfeminist discourse extends into other areas such as eco-feminism and cyberfeminism
Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
The statements that are NOT true of post-feminism are A and C:
(A) is false: Post-feminism is a reaction to second-wave feminism and is not based on Elaine Showalter's specific postulates (which were focused on "gynocriticism" and female literary history).
(C) is false: Post-feminism does not seek to establish the relevance of a rigid gender binary where man is essentially powerful; it generally embraces a more fluid, neoliberal, or individualized approach to gender and empowerment.
Statements B, D, and E correctly define aspects of post-feminist cultural discourse.
Question 67
Which of the following option(s) cover the basic issues related to feminist literary criticism?
A. Women are caught up in a prison house of language that is male specific
B. Gender equality is just an idea and largely unachievable.
C. Human society is largely entrenched in patriarchal ideology
D. Sex and Gender can not be treated as two distinct categories
E. One universal feminism will be the remedy to the historical subjugation
Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
(A) is a core issue: French feminist theorists (like Luce Irigaray and Hélène Cixous) argue that language is inherently phallocentric (male-specific), trapping women in a linguistic framework that cannot express their true experience.
(C) is a core issue: Feminist criticism operates on the fundamental premise that human society is deeply entrenched in patriarchal ideology, which influences literature and representation.
Why the others are wrong: Feminist theory actively treats Sex (biological) and Gender (social construct) as distinct categories (D is false). It rejects the idea of "one universal feminism," instead advocating for intersectionality (E is false). Finally, claiming equality is "unachievable" (B) is defeatist and antithetical to the movement's goals.
Question 68
Which of the following societal attributes are not accepted by feminist critics regarding objectification of women's bodies?
A. Beauty contests commodify the woman's body for the men's gaze
B. All women suffer from 'penis-envy'
C. Cosmetic surgery and body adornment become 'feminine' modes
D. The country is itself imaged as a woman's body that demands protection by men
E. Men have traditionally been projected as rational and women as irrational or emotional
Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
This question asks which premises feminist critics fundamentally reject as untrue stereotypes, rather than recognizing them as societal mechanisms of objectification.
(B) is rejected: Feminist critics violently reject the Freudian concept of "penis envy," arguing it reduces female psychology to biological determinism and patriarchal assumptions.
(E) is rejected: Feminist critics challenge and dismantle the false binary that men are inherently "rational" and women are "irrational/emotional."
Statements A, C, and D describe societal practices and discourses that feminists actively critique, acknowledging they are real methods used by society to objectify women.
Question 69
Arrange the following texts chronologically on the basis of their publication:
A. A Literature of Their Own: British Women Novelists from Bronte to Lessing by Elaine Showalter
B. In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens by Alice Walker
C. The Madwoman in the Attic by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar
D. Sexual Politics by Kate Millett
E. The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
The correct chronological publication sequence for these cornerstone feminist texts is:
- (E) The Second Sex (1949): Simone de Beauvoir.
- (D) Sexual Politics (1970): Kate Millett.
- (A) A Literature of Their Own (1977): Elaine Showalter.
- (C) The Madwoman in the Attic (1979): Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar.
- (B) In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens (1983): Alice Walker (Womanist prose).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Dick Hebdige's theory on "Subculture"?
In his 1979 book Subculture: The Meaning of Style, Hebdige theorizes that youth subcultures (like punks and mods) use style—fashion, music, and slang—as a symbolic form of resistance against mainstream, hegemonic culture.
Who coined the term "Neo-colonialism"?
The term was popularized by Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president. In 1965, he described it as the worst form of imperialism, where a state has outward political independence but its economic system is still directed by outside colonial powers.
What is "Schizoanalysis"?
It is a theoretical framework introduced by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in Anti-Oedipus (1972). It acts as a radical critique of psychoanalysis, analyzing how desire operates not just in the family unit, but within capitalist, economic, and political systems.
What is the significance of Kate Millett's "Sexual Politics"?
Published in 1970, it is a founding text of second-wave radical feminism. Millett argued that patriarchy is a socially conditioned, deeply entrenched political institution, explicitly broadening the definition of "politics" to include personal, power-structured relationships between sexes.
