ANGELA CARTER‘IN KURMACASINDA NORM-DIŞI ÖZNELLİKLER: BİLGE ÇOCUKLAR, DOKTOR HOFFMAN'IN ŞEYTANİ ARZU MAKİNELERİ VE YENİ HAVVA'NIN TUTKUSU

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Authors: Zehra Ahmetoğlu
Cited by: 0

Abstract

Carter‘s suggestion of an alternative subjectivity marks her as a revolutionary writer as, through this alternative, she seems to point at new possibilities and new sites of existence in patriarchal discourse. However, this alternative site has been harshly criticized by radical feminists. I claim that Carter‘s alternative site suggests a unique kind of feminism and subversion of patriarchal systems. Therefore, the foci in this dissertation are two-fold. On the one hand, I discuss Carter‘s alternative sites of subversion in her fiction by referring to her philosophical position. On the other hand, I point out how she departs from a radical feminist position. My intention is to demonstrate that Carter‘s oeuvre is a response to radical feminism which aims to dethrone the patriarchal discourse altogether since Carter, in her fictional and non-fictional prose, suggests that individuals can emancipate themselves from within the discourse. It is because of this reason that I put Carter in a dialogue with radical feminism in understanding her suggested subjectivity. In this dissertation, Carterian subjectivities are explored in her three novels: Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman, Wise Children, and The Passion of New Eve. I claim that the characters in these novels mirror Carterian understanding of identity. The incentive of choosing these works lies in their different formulation of identity since these novels incorporate a male, female, and a gender-free psyche with an emphasis on their subversive potentialities. Hence, Carter‘s character depictions bring forth a novel approach both to the understanding of the self and feminism.

Fields of Study & Subjects

American and British Literature Analysis Literary Theory and Cultural Hermeneutics Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies

Publication details

Journal / source
OpenMETU (Middle East Technical University)
Publication date
23 February 2026
Language
EN
Document type
Thesis