Gender and the Monstrous-Feminine
Subversion in Naomi Alderman’s The Power
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12920494 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Verónica Mondragón Paredes (0000-0003-1760-206X, Tecnológico de Monterrey, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 79-97 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Contemporary Women s Writing (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1754-1476 • E-ISSN: 1754-1484 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/cww/vpac008 |
| OpenAlex | W4226456017 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 8 |
Naomi Alderman’s speculative fiction novel The Power (2016) centers on a newfound supernatural ability in women: shooting lightning with their hands. A critical reading of this biologically determined ability is needed to assess Alderman’s conception of the female body. While the corruption of women in the novel demonstrates that reversing power structures would not be an adequate solution to gender-based oppression, a unique perspective on the skein can be discerned by employing the psychoanalytic framework of the monstrous-feminine archetype. By tracking the development of the archetype in the novel, from the seemingly feminist witch through its (d)evolution into the phallic woman, this essay will argue that the abjectification of the female body in the novel works strategically to denounce the gender binary itself
Aesthetics · Archetype · Art · Femininity · Literature · Oppression · Perspective (graphical · Phallic stage · Phallus (fungus · Political science · Power (physics · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Subversion · Visual arts · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · Psychology · Themes in Literature Analysis · Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction · Gender Studies · Law · Philosophy
| Highly cited | No |
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