Literatura académica sobre el tema "Non-binary-protagonist"

This paper examines intertextuality between Virginia Woolf’s Orlando and Yann Martel’s Self, focusing on the way in which each text grapples with undoing gender essentialism. Despite being set in different times and spaces, both novels demonstrate common threads: the protagonist challenges binary gender norms and heteronormativity; their gender is unintentionally transformed. In this regard, Martel’s novel should be understood as a successor to Woolf’s Orlando, as it is advertised as “A Modern-Day Orlando” by the publisher. Strangely enough, however, both texts have rarely been examined together. Thus, I argue that Orlando and Self resonate with one another as they explore gender and sexual fluidity through their main characters while simultaneously problematizing fixed categories of sex, gender, and sexuality, along with language derived from binary and heterosexual assumptions. Woolf and Martel experiment and break down rigid distinctions of gender, language, and even literary genres by blending biographical or autobiographical forms with other literary styles in their respective novels. Gender nonconformity practiced by the two characters illustrates that gender is performativity and one’s self is constantly negotiated through interactions with others. Hence, this paper interrogates how Woolf and Martel envision gender non-conforming subjects’ livable lives to demonstrate the politics of queer life.

Most of the studies on children’s programming conducted in America or India, indicating an unbalanced and stereotypical gender representation, remain limited to those on older children. The present study explores if cartoon shows for preschoolers resort to the counter-hegemonic portrayal of male/female characters, and if thereby have any scope for representation of gender fluidity within it. Consequently, it also attempts to discern the ways in which interpersonal relationships between the protagonists, and between the protagonist(s) and the secondary character(s) portray any ‘dominant/submissive’ dichotomies. Drawing on Bandura’s ‘Social Learning Theory’ and de Beauvoir’s notion of the social construction of women as the ‘other’, this study presents the results of textual analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis of a popular Russian cartoon show ‘Masha and the Bear’ (M&TB) telecast on Nick Jr. The study findings indicate more gender-sensitive representation in the show for preschoolers than those for the older children. Bearing the tropes of Soviet Russian egalitarian and cultural traits, the characters of M&TB portray non-binary gender roles compared to their American or Indian counterparts.

Robert Warren’s Blackberry Winter is popular for its distinction in depicting a variety of critical issues from the perspective of a 9-year-old protagonist. Set in a small village in the United States after World War II, Blackberry Winter tells the story of Seth, the hero, when he was nine years old, in which the deconstruction and reconstruction of the image of “the Other” are widely indicated. The novel reveals the author’s profound insights towards society, history as well as human beings by creating various images of “the Other” worth discussing. The purpose of this paper is to interpret the deconstruction and reconstruction of the human “the Other” image and non-human “the Other” image in Robert Warren’s Blackberry Winter from three levels—gender, race, and natural poetic. Based on the previous research related to imagery, alienation and ecological thinking, this paper will shed new light on the textual significance of “the Other” in Blackberry Winter by manifesting how human “the Other” image and non-human “the Other” image are deconstructed and reconstructed throughout the novel. The analysis of the novel is unfolded by close reading and comparison. It is found that the novel challenges the binary opposition between “the Self” and “the Other” through deconstructing and reconstructing marginalized and stereotyped images of human “the Other” and non-human “the Other

Abstract This paper aims to demonstrate how the various declinations of public and private dissent represented in a contemporary work of African literature, The Death of Vivek Oji (2020) by Akwaeke Emezi, can be read as an instance of literature’s world-making capacity. As the novel’s title anticipates, The Death of Vivek Oji reconstructs the life of its eponymous protagonist and the events that led to their death (Vivek is a non-binary, transgender person and both male and female pronouns are used to refer to them). Emezi’s novel is set in Nigeria during the late 1990s and the narrative actively engages in a representation of the socio-political situation of the country back then, covering the impact that the sudden death of the head of state, Sani Abacha, had on the population. Throughout the novel, dissent is depicted on two levels: on the one hand, it appears as an expression of democratic desire through the public protests against the country’s politics, as well as acts of violence against and among ethno-religious groups; on the other hand, there is also a parallel representation of private dissent in terms of the affirmation of one’s own identity. Vivek’s decision to not cut their long hair becomes, therefore, a form of personal opposition against society’s pre-imposed gendered constructs. In this sense, if the social stigma attached to members of the LGBT community is personified by the incapacity of Vivek’s parents to accept and understand their non-binary child, Vivek’s friends represent a communal act of resistance against such an oppressive social system. Ultimately, the opposition between public and private dissent finds its climax in Vivek’s death, in its causes and consequences. Building the critical analysis of the novel upon recent conceptualisations of literature as an active force that provokes dissent (Cheah 2016, Burns 2019), this paper demonstrates how Emezi’s narrative uses representations of public and private dissent to contest the current world in order to engage in the construction of a more equal one.

In 2009, in the city of Nantes, a pack of six wolves was released in a public park as part of Stéphane Thidet’s art installation. A book of short stories accompanied the event. One of the authors involved was Olivia Rosenthal, who then incorporated her story into the novel Que font les rennes après Noël? (2010), in which captive wolves are reintroduced to the city. In this post-natural environment, animals provide a semblance of the wilderness for residents, yet remain enclosed in an extended zoo designed by man – an act that domesticates both sides of the fence by separating humans from wolves. Rosenthal’s protagonist is one of such captives. Her life and the lives of animals are presented in parallel narratives. She grows up in a strictly controlled environment, and social standards are imposed on her. In a semi-autobiographical vein, Rosenthal explores issues of queer and gender marginalization as well as emancipation. At the same time, she seeks to dismantle the binary oppositions that place animals, women, and non-heteronormative persons on the other side of the fence. Relying on queer ecofeminist theory developed by Greta Gaard (1997) as well as trans-species urban theory formulated by Jennifer Wolch (1998), this paper argues that we should challenge the hierarchical approach to human and non-human life, as it silences differences and denies voice, rights, and agency to women, non-heteronormative persons, and animals. Tracing inspirations behind Olivia Rosenthal’s novel, this paper also contemplates the ethics of using live animals in Stéphane Thidet’s La Meute (2009) as well as Mircea Cantor’s Deeparture (2005) – two art installations that place captive wolves in an artificial environment.

To begin with, Heart of Darkness has always been challenging for every critic who feels the urge to take either pro-colonialist or contra-colonialist positions. However, herein the main focus would be set less upon the binary stances regarding the protagonist and his leanings toward the natives. Based on the indissociability of the psychological-cum-cultural operations, this study lends itself best to an amalgam of Freudian together with Bhabhian theories such as the dreamwork, repetition-compulsion, mimickry and hybridization. That is to say, it deserves attention to see the colonialist ideology through the dissecting lens of psychoanalysis. Besides, Tiffin’s subversive counter-discourse would provide a valuable source to this study. The present study aims to explore the underlying motive for Marlow’s narration and his interaction with the natives free from a slippery evaluation of the narratives prime facie. Since any consideration of the native-settler relation without taking the mutual impact of one on the other would only reveal a limited angle to the events, Marlow’s narration will be less concerned with the Hegelian subject-non-subject dichotomy than the intersection of both, however disguised. Of particular note is that such intersection gives rise to the ensuing ambivalence at the heart of the text, Marlow’s account of events, thence the clash of perspectives, whether fictional or critical, can be discerned. Eventually, this hybrid ambivalence casts the text into a hybrid existence that would account for the narrators’ neurosis on the one hand and the contradictory critiques on the other.

The representation of sexuality in Soeharto’s New Order Indonesian films mainly centred on the female reproductive role, and tended to present the nation as constructed of heterosexual families rather than individual citizens (Boellstorff, 2005). Under this formulation of gender ideology, all sexual practice outside heterosexual marriage could be seen as contradictory to the God-given nature of Indonesian citizens. Despite few representations, non-reproductive sexualities film-themes were produced and consumed. Released in 1978, Benyamin Sueb’s Betty Bencong Slebor became box-office hit in the late of 1970s and negotiated the state’s ideology that viewed cinema as a ‘vehicle for the creation of a national culture’ (Sen and Hill, 2000). This comedy film genre is criticising the mainstream perception of waria, male to female transgender (MtF) that is marginalized as a second-class citizen. Betty, the house maid waria in Bokir’s family, starred by famous comedian Benyamin Sueb, portrayed how gender identity is not a fixed identity; it’s merely a condition of doing straightness or doing queerness. Bokir’s wife feels blessed of having Betty in her family to resist Bokir as a womaniser. In this point, waria-ness is an alternative strategy to negotiate patriarchal system. Queer film reading especially Judith Butler’s theory on gender performativity will be used in analysing the film diegetic. The study finds that Betty Bencong Slebor can be seen as a cult film, considering the main protagonist and the film director is Benyamin Sueb as one of the greatest cult icons in Indonesia. As a cult film, Betty Bencong Slebor helps to understand the complexity, ambiguity and the harsh life of a wadam/waria, a marginalized group with a distinct identity. Betty’s gender fluidity offers a playful negotiation to New Order’s essentialist concept of gender binary system. This transgressive element confirms Ernest Mathijs and Mendik’s perspective (2007) that a cult film ‘rub against cultural sensitivities and resist dominant politics’.

В статье изучается творчество русско-английского писателя Уильяма Герхарди, которое оценивается в литературоведении диаметрально противоположно — от восторженного признания его культового характера до полного отказа в художественности и идейной глубине. Цель данной статьи — исследовать черты постмодернистской эстетики и мировоззрения в наиболее известном романе Герхарди на тему Гражданской войны в России — «Полиглоты», вбирающем в себя тенденции литературного развития ХХ века и служащем примечательным образцом концептуально-художественного синтеза. В статье анализируются такие проявления постмодернизма в «Полиглотах», как эпистемологическое сомнение, критика метанарративов, восприятие действительности как неуправляемого хаоса, принцип нон-иерархии, разрушение бинарных оппозиций, игровое начало, деконструкция, необарочное мироощущение, интертекстуальность, полижанровость. Отдельное внимание уделяется образу протагониста-рассказчика, сознание которого, с одной стороны, скрепляет повествование, придает картине распадающейся действительности целостность, с другой, в силу своей подвижности и текучести, лишает образ бытия смысловой однозначности, что также является постмодернистской особенностью. Еще одна примечательная постмодернистская черта произведения английского автора — его метаповествовательная природа: «Полиглоты» — это роман о романе, о процессе его создания. Через все исследование проведена мысль о влиянии русской культуры на художественную картину мира Герхарди, о рецепции, в том числе в характерной для постмодернизма пародийно-игровой, иронической форме, произведений русских писателей. The article investigates the literary legacy of William Gerhardie, an Anglo-Russian novelist, whose works receive diametrically opposite reviews. Some give him ample praise, while others criticize his books for having neither artistic nor ideological merit. The aim of the article is to explore “The Polyglots”, W. Gerhardie’s famous novel about Russian civil war through the lens of postmodernist aesthetics and postmodernist worldview. W. Gerhardie’s novel is a prime example of 20th century literature with its conceptual unity and artistic synthesis. The article analyzes such postmodernist features of “The Polyglots” as epistemological doubt, metanarrative critique, perception of the world as something uncontrollably chaotic, non-hierarchical principle, destruction of binary oppositions, gaming essence, deconstruction, neobaroque worldview, intertextulaity, multigenre characteristics. Special attention is given to the analysis of the protagonist, the narrator of the story, whose consciousness glues together the random pieces of the mosaic of life and, being flexible and unstable, adds ambiguity, which is another postmodernist characteristic. One more postmodernist feature of the work is its metanarrative character. “The Polyglots” is a novel about a novel, a novel about the writing process. The article focuses on the influence of the Russian culture on Gerhardie’s artistic worldview, his ironic postmodernist interpretation of Russian writers’ literary legacy.

This article explores ageing in the short, comic fiction of the Anglo-Jewish New Humourist writer Israel Zangwill. In a range of short stories, which reflect on the ways in which fin-de-siècle culture tends to align later life with decline and diminishment, Zangwill reveals the paradoxes of ageing by playing with such assumptions. These texts subvert conventional views on ageing, challenge the binary opposition of youth and old age, and critique the physiology of ageing through intergenerational difference and familial relations. The article argues that Zangwill’s texts emphasize the capacity for ageing — as a subjective experience, social identity, and means of elucidating the variable self through time — to be understood as a site of resistance or mode of subversion. In particular, his story ‘An Odd Life’ establishes creative ways to conceptualize age, as ageing is experienced by the protagonist outside the constraints of temporal realism. Willy Streetside’s anachronistic ageing — as he can be seen as simultaneously a child, in midlife, and an elderly man — manifests through a queerly asynchronous temporality, which operates beyond the expectations of reproductive futurism. Through this protagonist in particular, Zangwill establishes an alternative, non-normative model of age.

According to Gabrielle Hecht, nuclear energy in South Africa is mired in a wider history of colonial extractivism and racial oppression. Nadine Gordimer’s 2005 novel Get a Life critiques this politics of nuclear power and the way in which it extends the logic of colonialism to the exploitation of the non-human ecosystem in the interest of capital. However, the spatial and temporal scale of nuclear colonialism defy representation in discursive knowledge. This is because the threat posed by nuclear contamination, on both the non-human ecosystem and the people who have been exposed to radiation, is what Rob Nixon describes as a form of “slow violence”, dispersed across vast temporal and geographical scales that are unrepresentable within human understanding. In response, Get a Life marks a phenomenological shift in Gordimer’s strategies of engagement: through the ambiguities and contradictions of form, the novel demonstrates the reconfiguration in the human subject’s encounter with the non-human ecosystem following the impact of nuclear technology in neo-imperial contexts. Through the protagonist Paul Bannerman’s emerging radioactivity, the novel tentatively imagines a shared vulnerability of both human and non-human beings to nuclear catastrophe in a way that rejects the binary logic of human exploitation of the non-human landscape and characterizes what Donna Haraway terms “response-ability” towards the non-human. Through this embodied response-ability, Gordimer presents a new idiom that offers an alternative way of engaging with the unrepresentable scale of nuclear colonialism.

This chapter states that Neil Gaiman's graphic series The Books of Magic is a refutation of the binary opposition between mimetic and non-mimetic modes of thought. Throughout protagonist Timothy Hunter's journey, reality and fantasy are offered to the audience as two ways of viewing and living in the world. Gaiman does not offer a definitive resolution between the two because he is more interested in getting readers to ask their own questions and arrive at their own conclusions.

Eunuch saints presented Byzantine hagiographers with serious challenges. Thought to suffer from an inherent and egregious lack of self-control, how could members of this marginalized group meet the minimum requirements of good Christian behaviour, let alone aspire to sainthood? Niketas David’s tenth-century Life of Patriarch Ignatios offers one medieval exploration of this question. In depicting his eunuch protagonist as an exemplar of specifically masculine virtues, Niketas suggests a definition of masculinity more complicated than that of the traditional eunuch/ non-eunuch binary current over more than a thousand years of Byzantine history. By locating Ignatios beyond these traditional categories, the Life offers an unparalleled model for integrating non-conforming masculinities within the otherwise strictly gendered norms of Christian hagiography.