Egalitarian and Difference Feminism in Fantasy Literature Strategies for Breaking through Oppression in the Works of McCaffrey, Pierce, Le Guin and McKillip

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Dimino, Andrea

Keywords

Feminism, Fantasy Literature, English Literature

Area of Concentration

British and American Literature

Abstract

This thesis traces contemporary feminist writers� development in the fantasy genre. I analyze two distinct kinds of feminist fantasy fiction, which I associate with egalitarian and difference feminism. For egalitarian feminism, I analyze Anne McCaffrey�s Dragonsong and Dragonsinger, as well as Tamora Pierce�s Alanna: The First Adventure and In the Hands of the Goddess. These two novelists emphasize gaining access to cultural power and equal education as the most effective feminist strategy for equalizing gender relations. They stress the separation of biological sex and culturally constructed gender. In contrast, fantasy based on difference feminism stresses revaluing the category of the feminine itself. I chose Ursula K. Le Guin�s Tehanu and Patricia A. McKillip�s The Tower at Stony Wood to demonstrate the strategies of difference feminism. These fantasy authors are most interested in how the differences between men and women are created, and how a feminist consciousness is developed. This type of fantasy fiction has closer ties with issues of race and colonialism, since its emphasis on identity construction and revaluation can also apply to these struggles. The novels I discuss breaks open binaries by structuring itself around triplets or paradoxes. In my conclusion, I demonstrate how, although these novelists choose dramatically different solutions to the problem of gender equality, ideologically the two types of feminist fantasy fiction are actually quite similar. These similarities are restricted to ideology, however; the novelists particular solutions result in dramatically different visions of the feminist fantasy novel.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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