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The breakdown of gender binaries: Writing genders in contemporary fiction. / Ceri Louise Davies

Swansea University Author: Ceri Louise Davies

Abstract

"In Gender Trouble, Judith Butler asked, "[i]s the breakdown of gender binaries ... so monstrous, so frightening, that it must be held to be definitionally impossible and heuristically precluded from any effort to think gender?" (Butler, p. 1999, p.viii). Using this question as a star...

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Published: 2008
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42319
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first_indexed 2018-08-02T18:54:25Z
last_indexed 2018-08-03T10:09:50Z
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spelling 2018-08-02T16:24:28.8229868 v2 42319 2018-08-02 The breakdown of gender binaries: Writing genders in contemporary fiction. a181ff578c5dd2ab559d79c71af30785 NULL Ceri Louise Davies Ceri Louise Davies true true 2018-08-02 "In Gender Trouble, Judith Butler asked, "[i]s the breakdown of gender binaries ... so monstrous, so frightening, that it must be held to be definitionally impossible and heuristically precluded from any effort to think gender?" (Butler, p. 1999, p.viii). Using this question as a starting point, I look at the way that gender is understood and challenged in contemporary fiction. Specifically, I examine novels and short stories that focus on finding one's place in gender, and the way such narratives write gendered experiences outside of the traditional male/female binary. In the first chapter, I look at females that live as males, exploring various ways of 'doing' gender, both on-stage and off, and the creation of cohesive gender identities. Chapter two looks at the way that sex and gender are medicalised. I argue that the male/female binary is protected by both the media and the medical establishment. This expands into a discussion of the way doctors attempt to preserve this binary in the face of increasing challenges to its very viability. In chapter three, I consider novels that focus on a male-to-female transition, as well as what is at stake in writing gender. Finally, I look at the emergence of 'genderless' characters, both in terms of the viability of the term 'genderless', and the difficulties in finding a suitable language with which to understand and quantify gendered experience." E-Thesis Comparative literature.;Gender studies. 31 12 2008 2008-12-31 COLLEGE NANME English Language and Applied Linguistics COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Doctoral Ph.D 2018-08-02T16:24:28.8229868 2018-08-02T16:24:28.8229868 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics Ceri Louise Davies NULL 1 0042319-02082018162445.pdf 10798027.pdf 2018-08-02T16:24:45.1100000 Output 7892723 application/pdf E-Thesis true 2018-08-02T16:24:45.1100000 false
title The breakdown of gender binaries: Writing genders in contemporary fiction.
spellingShingle The breakdown of gender binaries: Writing genders in contemporary fiction.
Ceri Louise Davies
title_short The breakdown of gender binaries: Writing genders in contemporary fiction.
title_full The breakdown of gender binaries: Writing genders in contemporary fiction.
title_fullStr The breakdown of gender binaries: Writing genders in contemporary fiction.
title_full_unstemmed The breakdown of gender binaries: Writing genders in contemporary fiction.
title_sort The breakdown of gender binaries: Writing genders in contemporary fiction.
author_id_str_mv a181ff578c5dd2ab559d79c71af30785
author_id_fullname_str_mv a181ff578c5dd2ab559d79c71af30785_***_Ceri Louise Davies
author Ceri Louise Davies
author2 Ceri Louise Davies
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2008
institution Swansea University
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics
document_store_str 1
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description "In Gender Trouble, Judith Butler asked, "[i]s the breakdown of gender binaries ... so monstrous, so frightening, that it must be held to be definitionally impossible and heuristically precluded from any effort to think gender?" (Butler, p. 1999, p.viii). Using this question as a starting point, I look at the way that gender is understood and challenged in contemporary fiction. Specifically, I examine novels and short stories that focus on finding one's place in gender, and the way such narratives write gendered experiences outside of the traditional male/female binary. In the first chapter, I look at females that live as males, exploring various ways of 'doing' gender, both on-stage and off, and the creation of cohesive gender identities. Chapter two looks at the way that sex and gender are medicalised. I argue that the male/female binary is protected by both the media and the medical establishment. This expands into a discussion of the way doctors attempt to preserve this binary in the face of increasing challenges to its very viability. In chapter three, I consider novels that focus on a male-to-female transition, as well as what is at stake in writing gender. Finally, I look at the emergence of 'genderless' characters, both in terms of the viability of the term 'genderless', and the difficulties in finding a suitable language with which to understand and quantify gendered experience."
published_date 2008-12-31T03:52:55Z
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score 10.937309

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