Discourses of Difference unravels the complexities of writings by British women travellers of the high colonial period. Sara Mills' broad-based study draws on the work of Foucault and of theorists of colonialism such as Edward Said, Mary Louise Pratt and Gayatri Spivak to produce a new theoretical framework for the analysis of these texts, and of others written during the period. Mills argues that critics have paid insufficient attention to issues of gender, and have failed to consider the context in which texts by women were written and received. Through the case studies of three women...

Feminist Stylistics introduces readers to a range of issues and skills in the analysis of texts from a feminist perspective. Sarah Mills uses close language study and linguistic theory to set out the rationale for feminist text analysis. She examines sexism, political correctness, reader positioning, narrative, agency, discourse, character and role analysis - and sets the examination of literary texts alongside texts such as newspapers, pop songs and advertisements. Feminist Stylistics presumes no prior knowledge of either feminist or stylistic theory. Each chapter shows how the issue has...

Using feminist discourse theory, Mills analyzes the writings of three women travellers, Alexandra David-Neel, Mary Kingsley and Nina Mazuchelli. She charts both the shared and individual characteristics of various accounts of imperialism, written from within the colonial system.

It is impossible to imagine contemporary critical theory without the work of Michel Foucault. His radical reworkings of the concepts of power, knowledge, discourse and identity have influenced the widest possible range of theories and impacted upon disciplinary fields from literary studies to anthropology. Aimed at students approaching Foucault's texts for the first time, this volume offers:
* an examination of Foucault's contexts
* a guide to his key ideas
* an overview of responses to his work
* practical hints on 'using Foucault'
* an annotated guide to his most influential...

This volume provides a broad analysis of the term 'discourse' and a thorough examination of the many theoretical assumptions surrounding it. In the revised edition of this invaluable guidebook, Sara Mills:

• examines the historical definitions and developments of discourse
• analyzes Foucault's use of the term and its appropriation in the fields of linguistics, social psychology, and feminist, colonial and post-colonial theory
• explores the changes that have taken place in the field of critical discourse analysis since original publication
• discusses the...

Feminism and postcolonialism are allies, and the impressive selection of writings brought together in this volume demonstrate how fruitful that alliance can be. Reina Lewis and Sara Mills have assembled a brilliant selection of thinkers, organizing them into six categories: "Gendering Colonialism and Postcolonialism/Radicalizing Feminism," "Rethinking Whiteness," "Redefining the 'Third World' Subject," "Sexuality and Sexual Rights," "Harem and the Veil," and "Gender and Post/colonial Relations." A bibliography complements the wide-ranging essays. This is the ideal volume for any reader...

Feminism and postcolonialism are allies, and the impressive selection of writings brought together in this volume demonstrate how fruitful that alliance can be. Reina Lewis and Sara Mills have assembled a brilliant selection of thinkers, organizing them into six categories: "Gendering Colonialism and Postcolonialism/Radicalizing Feminism," "Rethinking Whiteness," "Redefining the 'Third World' Subject," "Sexuality and Sexual Rights," "Harem and the Veil," and "Gender and Post/colonial Relations." A bibliography complements the wide-ranging essays. This is the ideal volume for any reader...

Challenging the notion that women are necessarily always more polite than men (as language and gender literature claim), Sara Mills discusses the complex relationship between gender and politeness. Mills argues that, although women speakers, drawing on stereotypes of femininity, can appear to be acting more politely than men, there are many circumstances where women will act as "impolitely" as men.

This anthology aims to challenge stereotypes of women travellers. Rather than simply presenting writings by Victorian women who travelled bravely around the world disregarding social convention and danger, the editors present a range of writing and possible ways of being a woman traveller. As well as the 'eccentric' woman traveller, the editors have included writings by those who might be seen as failed travellers, cautious and conventional travellers and those who did not conform to the adventurous heroine stereotype. Because travelling as a woman and writing as a woman presents the author...

The issue of sexist language has been hotly debated within feminist circles since the 1960s. Previous books have tended to regard sexism in language as easy to identify and have suggested solutions to overcome and counter sexism. Sara Mills takes a fresh and more critical look at sexism in language, and argues that even in feminist circles it has become a problematic concept. Drawing on conversational and textual data collected over the last ten years, and with reference to recent research carried out in a range of different academic disciplines, Mills suggests that there are two forms of...