Gender Autonomy as a Feminist Premise of Identity and its Impact upon Female Protagonists in Fictional Narratives

Zeena Mohammad Tahir, Abdalhadi Nimer Abdalqader Abu Jweid, Hilalah Dughayyim Aldhafeeri, Fatima A. Al-Khamisi

Abstract


This paper examines ethnic identity in selected narrative works, namely, Tanushree Podder’s Escape from Harem (2013), R. K. Narayan’s The Guide (1958) and Dipika Rai’s Someone Else’s Garden (2010). The study argues that the ethnic groups could be grasped in terms of their identity features, which are blatantly portrayed in the novels. The study of any ethnic group, furthermore, leads directly to the understanding of its people, culture, tradition, manner and so forth. In this respect, the concept of identity will be approached as an implicative conceptualization of any community. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the complexities of identity and its effects on the characters in the selected novels. First, it will study the conceptualization of identity in Escape from Harem (2013). In this novel, the notions of identity will be elaborated in relation to feminism. Second, it will apply the concept of identity in terms of the main character’s life in The Guide (1958). Third, it will discuss women poor conditions in Someone Else’s Garden (2010) to identify the author’s depiction of gender autonomy as a way of gaining identity in the novel.


Keywords


Culture; Feminism; Gender; Identity; Society

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/13350

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