It's strange what you don't forget
Towards a Postmodern White Female Identity in Jayne Anne Phillips's Machine Dreams
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10891985 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Pirjo Ahokas (University of Turku, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 62-83 |
| Publication date | 2007-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Studies in Scandinavia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0044-8060 • E-ISSN: 0044-8060 |
| Publisher | Copenhagen Business School (PUBLISHER • DK) |
| DOI | 10.22439/asca.v39i1.4562 |
| OpenAlex | W2620030715 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 4 |
This article discusses the .female identity construction rd' the daughter figure in Jayne Anne Phillips 's Machine Dreams ( 1984) . It looks al the novel through the lens of contemporary.feminist theory, which utilizes insightsjimn postmodem and poststructuralist thought. Moreove1; the analysis draws on critical studies of whiteness . It argues that.fragments qffamily history reveal the decisive influence of intersecting discourses of gende1; ethnicity, "race," class and sexuct!ity on the.formation <d. the protagonist'.\ emerging ide11.tity. Ins tead of settling .for a pre-given and coherent identity, she tries to create an alternative identity re111i-nisce111 of postnwdemformations, which are characterized by heterogeneity, openness, and fluidity. The middle-class identities, which are produced in a pe1j(mnative manner within the context of regulatory norms imposed by the dominant society, co11sta111ly reiterate the gender ideals of sedimented heterosexuality. 111 drawing attention to the power differences among whites, while still employing stereotyped depictions to delimit the borders of white middle-class identity, the novel helps to challenge esse11tialized notions of white female identity. Even if the protagonist's new identity appears to be potentially subversive, it remains highly problematic
Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Identity (music · Literature · Postmodernism · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · White (mutation · American and British Literature Analysis · American Literature and Culture · Gender Studies · Psychology · Race, History, and American Society
| Citations per year | 0.06 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2009 - 2009 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |