scholarly journals THE PECULIARITIES OF A FEMALE PROTAGONIST IN A. BRONTË’S EPISTOLARY NOVEL

2019 ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Juan de Dios Torralbo Caballero ◽  
Violeta Janulevičienė
Keyword(s):  
Gender Studies ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Victorian Era ◽  
Epistolary Novel ◽  
Societal Norms ◽  
Female Protagonist ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
And Gender

This paper offers a study of the less known today and less analysed epistolary novel by Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. It focuses on the instances of female protagonist's unconventional behaviour according to the existing societal norms of the Victorian era. The research aims at pointing out the reasons modifying heroine’s behaviour and analysis of the reactions that the protagonist’s acts of nonconformity elicits in other characters of the novel. The undertaken study is believed to raise awareness of less studied Brontë sisters works in university literature and gender studies courses, as it touches upon the emerging issues of the female strength in the Victorian society.

scholarly journals “Un estado de la conciencia contemporánea”: género y moral en La sirena negra de Emilia Pardo Bazán

Neophilologus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susana Bardavío Estevan
Keyword(s):  
Gender Studies ◽  
Gender Performance ◽  
Fin De Siecle ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Emilia Pardo Bazan ◽  
Sexuality And Gender ◽  
Fin De Siècle ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Emilia Pardo Bazán ◽  
Decadent Aesthetics

AbstractDespite Emilia Pardo Bazán’s prominent feminism, La sirena negra has been strangely overlooked by gender studies. When the novel was published in 1908, Gómez de Baquero judged it “non feminist” due to its superficial heroines and the centrality of its complex masculine characters. Academic studies of La sirena negra have not refuted this idea, since they have elided gender approaches to focus on its decadent aesthetics. This article argues, on the contrary, that the novel’s androcentrism can be read as a Pardo Bazan’s strategy to appropriate the patriarchal discourse and hold it responsible for national degeneration. Emilia Pardo Bazán was harshly affected by the fin-de-siècle crisis. In her opinion, Spanish decay came from a lack of solid morality. Thus, Catholic principles should be restored because they would provide the autoregulation mechanisms to regenerate and reassemble the country. Literature should show the new reality, and the French roman psychologique provided her with an appropriate model. La sirena negra sets out the problem of the moral anomie through its protagonist, Gaspar de Montenegro. The analysis of his sexuality and gender performance reveals the danger of this amoral behavior for the degeneration of society, attributed ultimately to the patriarchal order and the androcentric discourse.

Ecofeminism and Post-Apocalyptic Environments in Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talia Gukert
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
Indigenous Women ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Apocalyptic Literature ◽  
Traditional Gender Roles ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Female Protagonist ◽  
Complete Reversal ◽  
And Gender

This paper examines the significance of post-apocalyptic narratives as a means of expressing deep-seated anxieties about colonialism, capitalism, and cultural erasure in Rebecca Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning. By viewing the novel through an ecofeminist lens, I seek to illuminate and explain the political changes Roanhorse’s post-apocalyptic world, and how this new environment allows for the transformation of social and gender structures of power. The theory of ecofeminism relies upon the belief that both women and nature are equally compromised and exploited by the patriarchy, constrained by the masculine forces of colonialization and capitalism. By situating her novel in a post-apocalyptic environment, Roanhorse implies that just as the earth has asserted its power over the effects of unrestricted capitalism through the consequences of global warming, Indigenous women have similarly taken back their powers of autonomy, liberating themselves from traditional gender roles. This paper shows how the connection between women and nature is most evident in the novel’s female protagonist, Maggie, who has been able to aggressively deviate from traditional gender norms and expectations due to the apocalypse. Through this complete reversal of common gender tropes in post-apocalyptic literature, Roanhorse demonstrates that the apocalypse has proven to be instrumental in freeing women from the constraints of gender roles, advocating the ecofeminist view that cooperation between women and nature is necessary for the liberation of both.

scholarly journals Doing Motherhood, Doing Home: Mothering as Home-Making Practice in Half of a Yellow Sun

Humanities ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Barbara Jilek
Keyword(s):  
Gender Studies ◽  
Historical Fiction ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Intersection Point ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The Public ◽  
Relational Practice ◽  
Female Protagonist ◽  
Public World ◽  
Mother Role

Home and motherhood are tightly interwoven, particularly in the dominant conceptualizations of home as a physical and emotional refuge from the public world. However, a closer look into these concepts helps question the naturalization of both motherhood and home, revealing them as shaped by complex lived experiences and relations instead. I argue that such a rethinking of home and motherhood beyond essentialist discourse is prominent in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s postcolonial novel Half of a Yellow Sun. Drawing on concepts and theories from the fields of gender studies and geography, and taking into account the postcolonial, Nigerian context of the novel, I address how Adichie’s 2006 piece of historical fiction thematizes the intersection point of motherhood and home as a relational practice. Adichie provides alternative conceptualizations of motherhood and home through her focus on performative, ritualized mothering practices that also function as relational home-making practices and that stretch beyond gender and biological relations. Through the central ambivalence that emerges in the novel when the female protagonist chooses and practices a traditional mother role but simultaneously does not correspond to the dominant Nigerian ideal of a mother, Adichie destabilizes binary views of both home and of motherhood.

scholarly journals A Cross-Examination of Female Masculinities and Male Femininities in Mema by Daniel Mengara

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 384
Author(s):  
Ayodele A. Allagbé ◽  
Akinola M. Allagbé
Keyword(s):  
Queer Theory ◽  
Gender Studies ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
African Culture ◽  
Gendered Identities ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Language And Gender ◽  
The Feminine ◽  
And Gender

<p><em>This paper attempts a critical reading of Mema (2003) written by Daniel Mengara. The study draws on insights from language and gender studies, feminism and queer theory to critically cross-examine how female masculinities and male femininities are represented in the novel. It holds the view that gendered identities are socially constructed via speech. This means that language encodes means which overtly mark masculinity or/and femininity. However, it should be noted that neither masculinity nor femininity is an exclusive characteristic of the male or the female sex/gender. In this sense, the role(s) an individual takes on in a given context confers either the masculine or the feminine profile upon him/her. This study concludes that gendered identities as portrayed in Mema are intricate, and that in most cases the portraiture of both sexes counters the expectations of African culture</em><em>.</em></p>

scholarly journals The Duality of Voyeuristic and Phallocentric Tokens in K.S. Maniam’s “Mala”

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 33-39
Author(s):  
Rana Ali Mhoodar Al-Fartoosi
Keyword(s):  
Gender Studies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Female Protagonist ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Male Dominated ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Domestic Affairs

This paper attempts to examine the Notions of voyeuristic and phallocentric tokens in K.S. Maniam’s “Mala.” In essence, the study tries to scrutinize the inherent relationship between males and females through psychic drives. These drives are mainly motivated by social milieus which control the behaviors of males and females. Therefore, males and females abide by the social manners that make them different from each other. Accordingly, my study will analyze the characters of Maniam’s “Mala.” It will specifically concentrate on female behaviors and how they are depicted in a patriarchal way. Furthermore, the analysis will tackle Maniam’s notion of voyeuristic and phallocentric ideas projected in the story. These ideas are associated with feminism and gender studies that try to bridge the gap between males and females. In this respect, my study will analyze the female protagonist Mala that tries to be equal to men in her male-dominated society. The protagonist embodies Maniam’s critique of females and their inferiority to males. Moreover, the concepts of voyeurism and phallocentrism will be applied to explore the protagonist’s internal drives caused by traditional “feminist” domestic affairs.

scholarly journals Lewis Barnavelt and the Rainbow over New Zebedee: Queering The House with a Clock in Its Walls

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-108
Author(s):  
Maciej Skowera
Keyword(s):  
Queer Theory ◽  
Gender Studies ◽  
Motion Picture ◽  
Film Adaptation ◽  
The Novel ◽  
And Gender

The paper discusses The House with a Clock in Its Walls (1973) by John Bellairs and its film adaptation, directed by Eli Roth (2018), from queer theory and gender studies perspectives. The author of the article aims to overview and develop existing queer in‑terpretations of the first novel in the Lewis Barnavelt series, with contextual references to the cycle’s subsequent volumes, and to conduct a queer theory ‑inspired analysis of Roth’s motion picture. The genre represented by the novel and the film is also consid‑ered by taking the scholarly reflections on the queer aspects of the Gothic and the hor‑ror into account. The author concludes that although both versions of the story fail at portraying femininity in an unconventional way, they succeed in showing that queer‑ness and, more generally, the Otherness should be highly appreciated and valued.

scholarly journals Anoreksi og agens

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (131) ◽  
pp. 39-58
Author(s):  
Tobias Skiveren
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Cultural Studies ◽  
Gender Studies ◽  
Affect Theory ◽  
New Materialism ◽  
Societal Norms ◽  
The Will ◽  
Feminist New Materialism ◽  
And Gender

Cultural studies and gender studies hold long-standing traditions for studying people with eating disorders as either passive objects subjected to misogynist discourses or subversive agents that negotiate societal norms. In both cases, agency is primarily investigated as a phenomenon that unfolds between the anorectic individual and the surrounding society. In contrast, this article explores how the question of agency also unfolds within the anorectic her-/himself. It does so by setting up a dialogue between the anorectic testimony of Cecilie Lind’s pathography Scarykost (2016) and philosophical ideas of corporeality in feminist new materialism, affect theory, and phenomenology. Ultimately, the article argues that the anorectic subject is not a homogenous individual that can easily be classified as either passive or active, but comprises an infra-corporeal landscape of social, psychic, and biological forms of agency that struggle to determine the will of the anorectic “I.” In that way, the article pushes back on the tendency in cultural and gender studies to make generalizing claims about the anorectic’s subversive agency – or lack thereof.

scholarly journals Aracnologias - As tecituras de Penélope

2009 ◽  
pp. 97-108
Author(s):  
Cristina Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Gender Studies ◽  
Margaret Atwood ◽  
Female Character ◽  
The Novel ◽  
And Gender

Resumo: Análise da personagem Penélope, de Homero, e a transformação ousada de Joyce dessa representação clássica da fidelidade feminina em Molly Bloom, a esposa infiel, sexualizada, trivial, lírica. Essas duas personagens são comparadas com sua mais recente recriação em The Penelopiad (2005), da escritora canadense Margaret Atwood. Uma importante categoria analítica dos estudos feministas e de gênero, a questão da voz é enfatizada na presente análise; essa personagem feminina é objeto da narrativa masculina (A Odisseia e Ulisses), mas no romance de Atwood essa personagem é sujeito de sua narrativa, elaborando uma tecitura “penelopeana” transgressora da versão clássica. Focalizaremos também o poder do silêncio na narrativa de autoria feminina, através do monólogo interior de Molly e da voz que fala do mundo dos mortos em The Penelopiad. Os conceitos de “abjeto” e “linguagem semiótica” de Kristeva são base para nosso trabalho, o qual problematiza a aparente imagem de passividade dessas mulheres que buscam o controle sobre suas vidas.Palavras-Chave: literaturas em língua inglesa; gênero; psicanálise.Abstract: Analysis of Homer’s Penelope and Joyce’s daring transformation of the classical personification of woman’s quintessential loyal wife into the unfaithful, earthly, sexualized, trivial, lyrical, Molly Bloom. These two characters will be compared with a more contemporary recreation: Margaret Atwood’s, in the novel The Penelopiad (2005). An important category for feminist and gender studies, voice/voicelessness is emphasized in our analysis; this female character, is both object of male-authored fiction (The Odyssey and Ulysses), and subject of the (un)weaving of a transgressive Penelopean “textile” (The Penelopiad). We also focus on the empowerment of “silence” in female narrative, through Molly´s interior monologue and Atwood’s Penelope, who speaks from the underworld. Kristeva’s concepts of the “abject” and “semiotic language” inform our analysis, which counters the image of passivity of these apparently mute women, who nevertheless retain control over their lives.Keywords: Literatures in English; gender; psychoanalysis.

scholarly journals Princesses in the Suburbs: Reading The Virgin Suicides as a Fairytale

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moureta Lingkar Maharani
Keyword(s):  
Gender Studies ◽  
Literary Work ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Male Gaze ◽  
The Gaze ◽  
Literature Reading ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Long Time ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Very High

<p>The concept of male gaze has been present for a very long time. It is present in literature, albeit literature being an entirely different media. In <em>The Virgin Suicides </em>by Jeffrey Eugenides, this theme seems to be very apparent along with themes such as voyeurism and objectifications. Drawing on the structuralist and gender studies, this article emphasizes about the effect of the male gaze and how this specific way of viewing affects the girls in a way that it shifts their function as a character, by reading the novel as a fairytale—a form of literary work of which the elements are easy to understand—helped by Vladimir Propp’s theory of <em>dramatis personae</em>. The findings attained from literature reading and library research concludes that the way the neighborhood boys' view of the Lisbon girls does affect their roles in the story. I argue that the Lisbon girls were put on a very high pedestal since the very beginning; therefore positions them as the fairytale princess. However, due to the nature of the gaze applied in the work, there are possibilities that it may shift to other characters.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals LAYERS OF DISCOURSE AND GENDER RELATION IN KHALED HOSSEINI'S A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1464-1471
Author(s):  
Priyanka Chaudhary
Keyword(s):  
Karl Marx ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Gender Relation ◽  
American Government ◽  
Afghan Women ◽  
Cultural Hierarchy ◽  
Societal Norms ◽  
Gayatri Spivak ◽  
Gendered Roles ◽  
And Gender

Purpose of the study: The research explores the gender relation and coercion on the marginalized section—women primarily due to socialized stereotypes in Hosseini's bestselling A Thousand Splendid Suns. The paper deciphers discrimination among the Muslim society of Afghanistan. It leads to how the filial and societal norms, which women are expected to upkeep, gradually develop revulsion and motivation for resilience to bring peace in filial relations. Methodology: In the context of postcolonial and feminist literary debates, this research is framed by Discourse Analysis of Edward Said, Gayatri Spivak, Karl Marx, and Foucauldian theories on 'Othering,' alienation, and power relation. Main Findings: It is found that the inflexible gendered roles in conventional Afghan society instigate the oppressed to cultivate insolence against cultural hierarchy. The female characters, three generations apart, an embodiment of Afghan women, show resilience against the discourses. Women, being more prone to being triply marginalized in the regimes of phallocentric norms—Taliban dictatorship, and western ideologies of Soviet and American government. Applications of this study: The novel is chosen to discuss this problem as it demonstrates Afghan women's conflicts through the heart-rendering portrayal of their positions and roles in the community. The protagonists develop a sisterhood to raise voice against the cultural institutions to seek peace in filial relations. Novelty/Originality of this study: The novel is thoroughly examined under discourse related to gender relations and under feministic criticism, which is far apart when we talk about the women in third world countries. They try to gain their space and share not by keeping themselves in the centre similar to Eurocentric feminism; rather, they are more concerned with filial welfare instead of the 'self.'

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