An Identity of One’s Own: Feminist Ideology and Identity Crisis of an Academic Woman in a Postmodern Feminist Fiction

Year 2020, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 605 - 628, 29.12.2020

Sumeyra Buran

https://doi.org/10.29110/soylemdergi.780898

Abstract

Why academic women struggle to find an identity of their own in “the genderization of science” (Keller, 1984, 78)? Is it because they still “face stereotyping, gendered barriers, exclusion, mobbing, discounting and discrediting in the patriarchal domain of science”? (Buran, 2020). This paper close-reads the interface between feminist ideology and biology that Margaret Drabble develops in her The Millstone (1965), which tells the transition from traditional ideal women to women in crisis in Post-War Britain. This postmodern feminist fiction reconstructs an alternative woman protagonist, Rosamund Stacey, liberated in all facets of life for whom marriage is not the goal but her academic career, as she prefers to remain a single mother without depending on a husband. The aim of this article is to explore how Drabble portrays an academic woman’s self-journey towards a sense of fragmented identity crises of social, familial, professional, and maternal. This is achieved by exploring Rosamund’s quest to find her feminist ideology and true identity flying from body constraints and socially assigned female roles.

Keywords

Female identity crisis, postmodern feminist fiction, feminist ideology, motherhood, academic woman

Supporting Institution

Tübitak

Project Number

2219 Doktora Sonrası Araştırma Projesi

Thanks

I express my sincere gratitude to TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) for awarding me a grant under 2219-International Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program to be performed at the University of California Riverside.

Kendine Ait Bir Kimlik: Postmodern Feminist Bir Kurguda Akademik Kadının Feminist İdeolojisi ve Kimlik Krizi

Abstract

Neden akademik kadınlar “bilimin toplumsal cinsiyetlendirilmesinde“ (Keller, 1984, 78) kendilerine ait bir kimlik bulmakta zorlanıyorlar? Bunun nedeni, akademinin ataerkil hegemonyasında kadınların hâlâ "basmakalıplık, cinsiyetlendirilmiş engeller, dışlama, mobbing, küçümseme ve itibarsızlaştırma ile karşı karşıya olmaları“ mı? (Buran, 2020). Bu çalışma, Margaret Drabble’ın savaş sonrası yıllarda geleneksel ideal kadın rolünden kimlik krizi yaşayan kadın rolüne geçişini anlatan The Millstone (1965) romanında işlediği feminist ideoloji ve biyoloji arayüzünü tartışır. Bu postmodern feminist kurgu, bir kocaya bağımlı kalmadan bekâr bir anne olarak kalmayı tercih ettiği için evliliği değil akademik kariyeri amaç edinen hayatın her alanında özgürleşen alternatif yeni modern bir kadın kahramanı (Rosamund Stacey’i) yeniden yapılandırır. Bu makalenin amacı, Drabble’ın akademik kadının sosyal, ailevi profesyonel ve annelik gibi parçalanmış kimlik krizlerine doğru kendi yolculuğunu nasıl tasvir ettiğini keşfetmektir. Bu krizler Rosamund’un toplumsal olarak atanmış kadın rollerinden ve beden kısıtlamalarından kaçarak feminist ideolojisini ve gerçek kimliğini bulma arayışını keşfetmesi ile aşılır.

Keywords

Feminist kimlik krizi, postmodern feminist kurgu, feminist ideoloji, annelik, akademik kadın

Project Number

2219 Doktora Sonrası Araştırma Projesi

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