Female Subjectivity Formation in Jeanette Winterson’s Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal

نوع مقاله : مقاله علمی پژوهشی

نویسندگان

1 استادیار،‌ دانشگاه زنجان

2 دانشجوی دکتری،‌ گروه ادبیات انگلیسی، دانشکده ادبیات و زبانهای خارجی، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد تبریز، تبریز، ایران

چکیده

Jenette Winterson, postmodern iconoclastic writer, posits the concept of ‘self’ as the central challenge of her female characters. Her autobiographical novel, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal, depicts contemporary woman’s solo quest to achieve her true self and construct her desired subjectivity. Portrayal of female subjectivity in Winterson’s text goes well with the figuration of nomadic female subjectivity in Rosi Braidotti;s feminist philosophy. Braidotti by employing the concept of “nomadic subjectivity” has contributed to the critique of identity, she notices the velocity of changes in the twenty first century and challenges the issue of identity and emphasizes that we need to know who we want become rather than who we are. Winterson in her story represents a positive and prosperous image of a woman who in the search of her true self, finds out that her subjectivity is a matter of construction and becoming not an essence given to her by her biological or adopted parents. This study traces the process of becoming a free female thinking subject through Winterson’s Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal in Rosi Braidotti’s nomadic subjectivity theoretical framework and tends to conclude that all women are at the threshold of becoming a free female thinking subject, but only women who acquire knowledge and intellectuality are apt to transgress phallocentrism and constitute their independent subjectivity.

کلیدواژه‌ها


عنوان مقاله [English]

Female Subjectivity Formation in Jeanette Winterson’s Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal

نویسندگان [English]

  • Hadi Shahi Gharehaghaji 1
  • Masoumeh Jannat Nia 2
1 Assistant Professor, University of Zanjan
2 PhD Candidate, English Literature Department, The Faculty of Education and Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Tabriz, Iran.
چکیده [English]

Jenette Winterson, postmodern iconoclastic writer, posits the concept of ‘self’ as the central challenge of her female characters. Her autobiographical novel, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal, depicts contemporary woman’s solo quest to achieve her true self and construct her desired subjectivity. Portrayal of female subjectivity in Winterson’s text goes well with the figuration of nomadic female subjectivity in Rosi Braidotti;s feminist philosophy. Braidotti by employing the concept of “nomadic subjectivity” has contributed to the critique of identity, she notices the velocity of changes in the twenty first century and challenges the issue of identity and emphasizes that we need to know who we want become rather than who we are. Winterson in her story represents a positive and prosperous image of a woman who in the search of her true self, finds out that her subjectivity is a matter of construction and becoming not an essence given to her by her biological or adopted parents. This study traces the process of becoming a free female thinking subject through Winterson’s Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal in Rosi Braidotti’s nomadic subjectivity theoretical framework and tends to conclude that all women are at the threshold of becoming a free female thinking subject, but only women who acquire knowledge and intellectuality are apt to transgress phallocentrism and constitute their independent subjectivity.

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • female nomadic subjectivity
  • becoming
  • Winterson
  • Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal
  • Braidotti
  1. Braidotti, Rosi.2002. United States: Polity Press.
  2. Braidotti, Rosi. 1994. Nomadic Subjects: Embodiment and Sexual Differences in Contemporary Feminist Theory. New York: Columbia University
  3. Coghlan, Mximillian.2016. “References and Repetition in Jeanette Winterson’s Novels”. Canada: Lakead University http://knowledgecommons/lakehead u.com
  4. Ghernout, Soumia. 2022. “Femininity Representation in Jeanette Winterson’s Postmodern Novels”. International Journal of Social Communication 9 (3): 522-532.
  5. Ghernout, Soumia. 2023. “The Postmodern Representation of Femininity in Jeanette Winterson’s Selected Narratives”. The University of ABDELHAMID IBN BADIS MOSTAGANEM. Algeria. http://e-biblio.univ-mosta.dz
  6. Noorollahi, Mohamad Reza and Ahmadzadeh, Sheedeh. 2012-2013. “The Crux of Identity in Tony Morrison’s Beloved”. Critical Language and Literary Studies. Iran: Shahis Beheshti University Press 9 (8): 227-244.
  7. Sabah, Abdul. 2023. “New Women in Jeanette Winterson’s Selected Novels”. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts 11 (2): 111-115.
  8. Struzziero, Maria Antonietta. “The Wound and The Gift: Rewriting the Wounded Self Through the Gift of Language. A Study of Jeanette Winterson’s Autobiography Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?” Altre Modernità 21: 12–30.
  9. Winterson, Jeanette. 2011. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal. Canada: ALFREDA.KNOP Press.
  10. Wronka, Malgorzata. 2017. “The Problem of Identity in Jeanette Winterson’s Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and Passion”. The Grove Working Press on English Studies 24: 195–206. https://doi.org/10.17561/grove.v24.a8.