Female subjectivity and spatial displacement in selected coming-of-age novels by Joyce Carol Oates
The exploration of female subjectivity within the framework of spatial displacement presents significant challenges in literary studies, especially when analyzing the coming-of-age novels of American author Joyce Carol Oates. The research in this field is relatively insufficient, so further acade...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
2024
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/123145/1/123145.pdf http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/123145/ https://ethesis.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/18700 |
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| Summary: | The exploration of female subjectivity within the framework of spatial
displacement presents significant challenges in literary studies, especially
when analyzing the coming-of-age novels of American author Joyce Carol
Oates. The research in this field is relatively insufficient, so further academic
attention is needed. As one of the most prolific contemporary American writers,
Joyce Carol Oates’s work spans over half a century, offering profound insights
into identity issues in complex environments. This study conducts a textual
analysis of four selected coming-of-age novels by Oates—Foxfire:
Confessions of a Girl Gang, I’ll Take You There, The Gravedigger’s Daughter,
and Mudwoman—to investigate the challenges faced by female characters in
their environments and how they navigate these challenges through spatial
interactions. The primary challenges these women face include social
oppression, gender inequality, identity crises, and the struggle to find selfdefinition
within multiple spaces. Their journeys of growth and self-discovery
are often accompanied by spatial displacement and conflicts with societal
norms as they contend with external pressures and internal conflicts. These
female characters ultimately overcome these challenges through interactions
within physical, social, and mental spaces, gradually establishing their
subjectivity and identity. The study has three objectives: first, to examine how
changes in physical space trigger crises and influence the development of
female subjectivity; second, to investigate how interactions within expanded
social spaces, particularly heterotopias, affect women’s confrontation with and
resistance to societal discipline; and third, to analyze how epiphanies and
psychological development within mental spaces contribute to the
construction and expression of female subjectivity. This research constructs
a theoretical framework by synthesizing spatial theories from Lefebvre, with
his triadic conceptualization of space, and Foucault, with his insights into
heterotopia and power. This framework informs the analysis of the
interconnection between spatial displacement and female subjectivity,
highlighting female protagonists’ challenges and how these spatial
experiences influence their growth and self-discovery. The significance of this
study lies in its comprehensive approach to dissecting the spatial elements
within Oates’s coming-of-age novels, a perspective that previous research has
often overlooked. The findings reveal that spatial displacement is a critical
element in subjectivity construction, influencing the development of female
subjectivity and challenging traditional constructions of female identity. The
findings of this study not only have far-reaching implications for literary
analysis and provide new perspectives for multidisciplinary dialogue on space,
gender, and subjectivity. This research method can be widely applied to other
academic contexts, offering a more comprehensive understanding of how
space influences identity formation and subjectivity development, thus
fostering a more diverse and enriched interdisciplinary research. |
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