Power and transgression: margins, crossings and monstrous women in selected works of Bharati Mukherjee and Angela Carter

dc.contributor.advisorSamuelson, Megen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorAbel, Corinne Shellyen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-27T14:19:53Z
dc.date.available2017-01-27T14:19:53Z
dc.date.issued2016en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis study focuses on power and transgression in selected works of two disparate authors, Bharati Mukherjee and Angela Carter. Despite their differences of origins, cultures and styles, both writers articulate a vision of transgressive, unruly women, often situated at society's edges, who dare to challenge boundaries and who are capable of monstrous, larger-than-life acts. Setting these two authors side by side illuminates how the margins can unleash an energetic potency and reveals how transgression produces a liberatory effect that both unsettles power and provides a necessary advantage for those who wish to inhabit the space of power. Three main areas of investigation are covered. The initial section addresses people at the 'Margins' in terms of Carter's use of the carnivalesque and Mukherjee's application of chaos theory; unexpected confluences emerge which paradoxically speak to the symbolic force of those cast to the side or consigned to the edges, suggesting that the margins themselves can become places of power. The section on 'Crossings' looks at transgression both literally, as a crossing over from one space to another, and metaphorically, as a violation of normative codes of behaviour. For both authors, crossings of one kind or another, whether metaphoric, literal, or textual, foreground a transgressive edge. An analysis of the texts reveals how, in very different ways, Mukherjee and Carter articulate transgression as contesting established authority and creating space for a divergent form of ascendancy. The final section on 'Monstrous Women' deals with how women and foreigners are framed as 'freaks' or monsters in order to devalue their significance within hegemonic patriarchal structures. Ironically, this framing can be recuperated so that it simultaneously subverts power through parody, excess and violence, and creates a gap for accessing it. Borders, gaps and crossings underpin this entire study and drive the rationale for reading these two authors together, revealing the spaces between them, and how they criss-cross, meet, collide or fail to align. The journey of this thesis has travelled a counterpath: it has demanded openness to the encounter with the unexpected, resulting in the discovery of insights, and being surprised and enlightened by unsuspected alliances and evocative mismatches.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationAbel, C. S. (2016). <i>Power and transgression: margins, crossings and monstrous women in selected works of Bharati Mukherjee and Angela Carter</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23655en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationAbel, Corinne Shelly. <i>"Power and transgression: margins, crossings and monstrous women in selected works of Bharati Mukherjee and Angela Carter."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23655en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationAbel, C. 2016. Power and transgression: margins, crossings and monstrous women in selected works of Bharati Mukherjee and Angela Carter. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Abel, Corinne Shelly AB - This study focuses on power and transgression in selected works of two disparate authors, Bharati Mukherjee and Angela Carter. Despite their differences of origins, cultures and styles, both writers articulate a vision of transgressive, unruly women, often situated at society's edges, who dare to challenge boundaries and who are capable of monstrous, larger-than-life acts. Setting these two authors side by side illuminates how the margins can unleash an energetic potency and reveals how transgression produces a liberatory effect that both unsettles power and provides a necessary advantage for those who wish to inhabit the space of power. Three main areas of investigation are covered. The initial section addresses people at the 'Margins' in terms of Carter's use of the carnivalesque and Mukherjee's application of chaos theory; unexpected confluences emerge which paradoxically speak to the symbolic force of those cast to the side or consigned to the edges, suggesting that the margins themselves can become places of power. The section on 'Crossings' looks at transgression both literally, as a crossing over from one space to another, and metaphorically, as a violation of normative codes of behaviour. For both authors, crossings of one kind or another, whether metaphoric, literal, or textual, foreground a transgressive edge. An analysis of the texts reveals how, in very different ways, Mukherjee and Carter articulate transgression as contesting established authority and creating space for a divergent form of ascendancy. The final section on 'Monstrous Women' deals with how women and foreigners are framed as 'freaks' or monsters in order to devalue their significance within hegemonic patriarchal structures. Ironically, this framing can be recuperated so that it simultaneously subverts power through parody, excess and violence, and creates a gap for accessing it. Borders, gaps and crossings underpin this entire study and drive the rationale for reading these two authors together, revealing the spaces between them, and how they criss-cross, meet, collide or fail to align. The journey of this thesis has travelled a counterpath: it has demanded openness to the encounter with the unexpected, resulting in the discovery of insights, and being surprised and enlightened by unsuspected alliances and evocative mismatches. DA - 2016 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2016 T1 - Power and transgression: margins, crossings and monstrous women in selected works of Bharati Mukherjee and Angela Carter TI - Power and transgression: margins, crossings and monstrous women in selected works of Bharati Mukherjee and Angela Carter UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23655 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/23655
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationAbel CS. Power and transgression: margins, crossings and monstrous women in selected works of Bharati Mukherjee and Angela Carter. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 2016 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23655en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of English Language and Literatureen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherEnglish Language and Literatureen_ZA
dc.titlePower and transgression: margins, crossings and monstrous women in selected works of Bharati Mukherjee and Angela Carteren_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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