HERitage / de fil en aiguille: Needlepoint as Feminist Praxis and Memory
Abstract
“He does not include she” (Ahmed 4) … but does “heritage” include her?
Taking its root in the lack of English words to embody and convey the French notion of “matrimoine”, this craftivist project, which combines a needlepoint square and a personal essay, lays emphasis on the absent presence of the feminine in the word heritage itself. Playing with letter case – as the modernist poetess and novelist H.D. did in her 1927 novel entitled HERmione – while paying tribute to the women historians who established the field of herstory and shed light on women’s past, this dual project showcases the notion of HERitage. The chosen medium, needlepoint, draws attention to the silencing of women's voices and their invisibilisation in the Anglo-American literary and cultural heritage. Indeed, from the mythical figures of Arachne, Penelope, and, most notably, Philomela, to the feminist critical works of, among many others, Alice Walker, Patricia Joplin, and Nancy K. Miller, quilting, tapestry, and weaving have long been women’s privileged mode of expression and creation, thus highlighting the tension between domestic craft and feminist praxis. This project aimed to make women's cultural HERitage palpable and visible, and to honour the memory of the critics whose work enabled me to articulate my passion for needlecraft to my vocation as a feminist literary critic.