front 8/27/01 4:18 PM Page 1 Tactical Readings front 8/27/01 4:18 PM Page 2 This page intentionally left blank front 8/27/01 4:18 PM Page 3 Tactical Readings Feminist Postmodernism in the Novels of Kathy Acker and Angela Carter Nicola Pitchford Lewisburg Bucknell University Press London: Associated University Presses front 8/27/01 4:18 PM Page 4 ©2002 by Rosemont Publishing & Printing Corp. All rights reserved. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by the copyright owner, provided that a base fee of $10.00, plus eight cents per page, per copy is paid directly to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, Massachusetts 01923. [0-8387–5487–2/01 $10.00 + 8¢ pp, pc.] Associated University Presses 440 Forsgate Drive Cranbury, NJ 08512 Associated University Presses 16 Barter Street London WC1A 2AH, England Associated University Presses P.O. Box 338, Port Credit Mississauga, Ontario Canada L5G 4L8 The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pitchford, Nicola. Tactical readings : feminist postmodernism in the novels of Kathy Acker and Angela Carter / Nicola Pitchford p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–8387–5487–2 (alk. paper) 1. Acker, Kathy, 1948—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Women and literature— United States—History—20th century. 3. Women and literature—England— History—20th century. 4. Carter, Angela, 1940—Criticism and interpretation. 5. Feminist fiction, American—History and criticism. 6. Feminist fiction, English—History and criticism. 7. Postmodernism (Literature)—England I. Title. PS3551.C44 Z8 2002 813’.54099287—dc21 2001035797 printed in the united states of america front 8/27/01 4:18 PM Page 5 Contents Acknowledgments 7 Introduction 11 1. A Politicized Postmodernism: Feminist Reading Tactics 20 2. Kathy Acker’s Unreasonable Texts 59 3. Angela Carter’s War of Real Dreams 105 4. Reading Feminism’s Pornography Conflict 151 Epilogue: Readers, Disciplinarity, and Social Practices 181 Notes 188 Works Cited 207 Index 218 front 8/27/01 4:18 PM Page 6 This page intentionally left blank front 8/27/01 4:18 PM Page 7 Acknowledgments My first, huge thanks must go to Dale M. Bauer for her perfect sug- gestions and sustained encouragement. Jill Dolan, Jacques Lezra, Tom Schaub, and Jonathan Veitch read portions of this project and provided valuable guidance, as did Tom Foster and the anonymous readers for Genders.Early drafts benefited greatly (as did I) from the advice of the Wisconsin writing group: Kari Kalve, Susan Koenig, Tracy McCabe, Michael Peterson, and Stacy Wolf. And I am deeply grateful to all my supportive colleagues at Fordham, especially Phil Sicker. My mother, Ann Roberts, first introduced me to Angela Carter's work, which is probably only the least of all the things for which I owe her thanks—along with all my family. This book is for Wilson Neate, with thanks and love. ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ Portions of chapter 4 appeared in slightly different form as “Reading Feminism’s Pornography Conflict: Implications for Postmodernist Reading Strategies,” Genders25 (1997). Copyright © 1997, New York University. Reproduced by permission of publisher. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint: Kathy Acker, from Don Quixote: Which Was a Dream, Empire of the Senseless,andMy Life My Death by Pier Paolo Pasolini.Copyright © 1986, 1988, 1984, Kathy Acker. Reproduced by permission of Grove/At- lantic, Inc. and the Estate of Kathy Acker. 7 front 8/27/01 4:18 PM Page 8 8 tactical readings Angela Carter, from The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman. Copyright © 1972, Angela Carter. Reproduced by permission of the Estate of Angela Carter, c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd., 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN. David Harvey, from The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change. Copyright © 1989, David Harvey. Re- produced by permission of Basil Blackwell Ltd. Fredric Jameson, from Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Copyright © 1991, Duke University Press. Reproduced by permission of publisher. front 8/27/01 4:18 PM Page 9 Tactical Readings