Exploring Gender Performativity in Selected Works of Willa Cather, Ellen Glasgow and Zora Neale Hurston

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Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2023 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,5, Northumbria University, language: English, abstract: In this dissertation I will examine the notion of gender performativity within the following literary texts of three famous American authors: Willa Cather's "My Antonia" (1918) and "0 Pioneers!" (1913), Ellen Glasgow's "Virginia" (1913) and "Barren Ground" (1925), and Zora Neale Hurston's "Sweat" (1926) and "Their Eyes Were Watching God" (1937), in this project I will demonstrate how literature shapes, challenge and deconstructs conventional gender norms. These female authors made a significant contribution to American literature in the modern era, particularly by addressing themes of gender roles, social expectations, patriarchy, and female empowerment. Gender identity it is not something fixed, but rather it is culturally and socially constructed that can be performed through repetitive acts and behaviours according to Judith Butler. I will apply gender performativity theory to show how female and male characters in these texts challenge and subvert traditional gender roles, patriarchal orders, and power dynamics of their societies. By doing so, I would argue, the authors question the prevailing gender norms, giving readers an opportunity to explore and understand a different point of view regarding female agency and female empowerment.

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