Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Humanities
First Advisor
Reid, Amy
Area of Concentration
Humanities
Abstract
This thesis explores feminine writing, or écriture féminine, through the analysis of three experimental works of feminine literature: Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector, Book of Promethea by Helene Cixous, and Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson. I posit that feminine writing can be a productive lens for analyzing these and other works, while these works in turn provide a “way in” to thinking about feminine writing. I begin by outlining the important qualities of feminine writing as a “process” of both writing and reading. My first chapter focuses in Lispector’s Hour of the Star, which follows the life of a young woman from Northeastern Brazil through the oppressive perspective of a male narrator. My second chapter centers on Book of Promethea, a novel in which Cixous explores her own theories on feminine writing in fiction. In my third chapter I read Winterson’s Written on the Body, which, like Book of Promethea, is written from the perspective of a nameless narrator who attempts to relate to their beloved through the act of writing about them. I conclude by suggesting that feminine writing raises valuable questions about authorship, identity, and fiction as a way of relating to ourselves and others.
Recommended Citation
Diamon-Sagias, Katia, "“YOUR BODY MUST BE HEARD”: EXPLORATIONS OF FEMININE WRITING IN THREE WORKS OF EXPERIMENTAL FEMINIST LITERATURE" (2018). Theses & ETDs. 5506.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5506