Gothic times: feminism and postmodernism in

the novels of angela carter

Sears, John . University of Sheffield (United Kingdom). ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1993.
U060128.

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ABSTRACT (ENGLISH)
The problematic relationship between feminism and postmodernism manifests itself, in contemporary fiction by
women, as a conflict between political and aesthetic practices which is ultimately waged upon the ground of
subjectivity. Angela Carter's novels offer an extended exploration of subjectivity which utilises, in many ways self
consciously, the ongoing theorisation of subjectivity and related notions - notably desire, gender and power - which
characterises contemporary feminist and postmodernist philosophy. This thesis offers a series of readings of
Carter's novels which traces their engagement with particular aspects of the theorisation of subjectivity. It
attempts to present Carter's novels as examples of how the aesthetic and the political can to a certain extent be
combined, and of how feminist political practice can be both represented and problematised in the postmodernist
fictional text, while postmodernist aesthetic practices are also exploited but problematised in and by that
exploitation. The Introduction explores the relationship between feminist and postmodernist theories of the
subject, through a survey of theorists from both 'camps' and a brief survey of contemporary women novelists,
before discussing the critical neglect of Carter's fiction. Chapter 2 explores more extensively the confluence of
feminist, postmodernist and psychoanalytic models of the subject and offers an exemplary reading of a short story
by Carter, in order to demonstrate certain stylistic and thematic characteristics of her fiction. In particular,
psychoanalytic models of subjectivity are examined. The succeeding two Chapters address Carter's early (pre-
1972) novels in order to explore the development of her fictional career from its context of 1960s British fiction,
and trace the progressive elaboration of certain thematic preoccupations in their nascent form. Three further
Chapters individually address each novel in Carter's 'trilogy' so as to demonstrate how each text explores a
particular aspect of the construction of the postmodern self. The Conclusion offers a reading of Carter's fiction as
extensively engaged, both at a formal and a thematic level, with the deconstruction of conventional notions of the
self in order to expose the political interests invested in those notions. Carter's last novel is also addressed in the
context of this discussion, as are the ways in which Carter's fiction offers contributions to the
feminist/postmodernist debate as discussed throughout the thesis. Throughout the thesis, extensive reference is
made to critical and theoretical works which elucidate or impinge upon the themes addressed in Carter's novels,
and Carter's own comments in interviews and in her critical texts are also utilised.

DETAILS

Subject: British and Irish literature

Classification: 0593: British and Irish literature

Identifier / keyword: (UMI)AAIU060128 Language, literature and linguistics

Number of pages: 1

Degree date: 1993

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 School code: 0716

Source: DAI-C 70/13, Dissertation Abstracts International

Place of publication: Ann Arbor

Country of publication: United States

University/institution: University of Sheffield (United Kingdom)

University location: England

Degree: Ph.D.

Source type: Dissertation or Thesis

Language: English

Document type: Dissertation/Thesis

Note: Bibliographic data provided by EThOS, the British Library’s UK thesis service:
https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.295806

Dissertation/thesis number: U060128

ProQuest document ID: 1774294950

Document URL: https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/gothic-times-feminism-

postmodernism-novels-angela/docview/1774294950/se-2?accountid=178282

Go to Library Record: http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/1816/

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