Women are just planets that attract the wrong species: An Exploration of Feminist Issues through Dystopia in Jeanette Winterson s The Stone Gods

master's thesis

• Title (croatian): "Žene su samo planeti koji privlače krivu vrstu": Proučavanje feminističke problematike kroz distopiju u romanu "The Stone Gods" Jeanette Winterson
• Author: Petra Antonia Podnar
• Mentor: Iva Polak (mentor)
• Committee member: Tatjana Jukić Gregurić (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Vanja Polić Jurković (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Iva Polak (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2023-02-22, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics

Abstract

The thesis examines the ways in which Winterson depicts and eventually unveils the mechanism behind most modern feminist issues. Using repetition as a literary device, but also as a major motif, Winterson builds The Stone Gods into a multi-layered exploration of the challenges of womanhood, history and fate. This metatextual novel contains multitudes, tightly interwoven and virtually inextricable, centering the human condition as a driving force of the perpetuum mobile that is our universe. This reading is focused mainly on what is, in this dystopian utopia, considered to be Other – be it women, queer people, or robots – and their fight to rip away from the centrifugal force that keeps the world turning in an endless cycle of forgetting history and repeating it. The novel itself posits that the world these characters live in is “a repeating world” – the entire course of human history happens again and again, and humans keep repeating the same mistakes. It paints a rather bleak picture of humanity and, on the surface, makes it look like it is simply human nature not to learn anything from past mistakes and to eventually self-destruct. Through her carefully constructed narrative, however, Winterson reveals that fate might not be what it seems, and that there is a way to break the chain of suffering. Entropy presented in the novel can be broken by forming the bonds that are the ultimate core of the story, the only thing capable of breaking the pattern of self-destruction - human love.

Abstract (croatian)

Ovaj diplomski rad istražuje načine na koje Winterson opisuje i konačno otkriva mehanizam iza većine modernih feminističkih pitanja. Koristeći ponavljanje kao stilsko sredstvo, ali i kao glavni motiv, Winterson stvara roman The Stone Gods kao višeslojno istraživanje izazova ženskog iskustva, povijesti i sudbine. Ovaj metatekstualni roman sadrži mnoge slojeve, usko isprepletene i gotovo nerazdvojive, centrirane oko ljudskog stanja kao pokretačke sile svemira. Ova interpretacija usredotočena je uglavnom na ono što se u ovoj distopijskoj utopiji smatra Drugim - bilo da se radi o ženama, queer ljudima ili robotima - i njihovoj borbi da se odupru centrifugalnoj sili koja drži svijet u beskrajnom ciklusu zaboravljanja i ponavljanja povijesti. Sam roman postavlja tezu da je svijet u kojem njegovi likovi žive "ponavljajući svijet" - čitava povijest ljudskog roda odvija se ciklično, a ljudi stalno ponavljaju iste pogreške. Takav prikaz ljudskog roda prilično je sumoran - na površini izgleda kao da je jednostavno u ljudskoj prirodi ne naučiti ništa iz vlastitih grešaka. Međutim, kroz pažljivo konstruiranu naraciju, Winterson otkriva da sudbina možda nije kakvom se čini i da postoji način da se prekine lanac patnje. Entropija prikazana u romanu može se pobijediti formiranjem odnosa koji su krajnja jezgra ove priče, te jedino što može prekinuti ciklus samouništenja - ljudska ljubav.

• Keywords: The Stone Gods; Jeanette Winterson; feminism; bodily autonomy; identity; entropy
• Keywords (croatian): The Stone Gods; Jeanette Winterson; feminizam; autonomija; identitet; entropija
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:017070
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (single major); specializations in: TEFL, Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation; Course: Literature and Culture; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2023-02-24 22:11:13