‘여성사 쓰기’에 대한 (재)성찰 = Reflection on the Methodology of Women’s History

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Although research of women’s history have had big success in quantity and in institutionalization during last 30years in the western world, there have been critical voices that it is still positioned at the periphery of historical science. In order to overcome this weakness, it is necessary to develop the theory of women’s history and to discuss the theoretical confusions which women’s history research is now confronting. In this context, this article attempts to analyze the relationship of women’s history to gender, problems of ‘difference’ within women’s history, overcoming of eurocentrism in women’s history, and its relation to men’s history, and to explore alternatives.
Specifically, this article suggests going beyond the strict separation of sex-gender system in the research of women’s history. Further, it suggests making visible the differences among women and historicizing gender in its own context. This article also cautions against the danger of universalistic approach by gender research. But in the process of historicizing the differences among women, the insistence on difference should not be reduced to ‘deconstruction’ as unlimited relativism would make the category of women meaningless and threaten the existence of feminist movement as a practice. Therefore this article suggests searching for the ‘transversal politics’, finding out differences and commonalities among women.
In addition, this article criticizes the limitation that gender category can not elucidate the role of women subject properly, and takes notice of making of ‘gendered women subject’ in historical context. As this article suggests finding out the role of women as gendered subject, it mentions concretely several examples in western history; women’s great contributions to production and subsistence of economy, centered role of women in family, their active participation in resistance such as in bread riots, French Revolution and German Unification Process, and roles of women as offenders such as the Nazi women.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 1. 문제의 제기
• 2. 그간의 역사 서술과 여성사의 딜레마
• 3. 여성사의 이론화와 그 쟁점
• 4. 여성사의 재구성을 위한 지점: ‘젠더화된 여성주체’의 발견
• 5. 마무리에 부쳐