Female Attachment in Contemporary Fiction in English.

Abstract

The main objective of my doctoral dissertation is the analysis of complex female characters and their relationships in a selected corpus of novels, potential choices being Mona Awad’s Bunny (2019), Eliza Clark’s Boy Parts (2020), Ottessa Moshfegh’s Eileen (2015), or Melissa Broder’s Milk Fed (2021). Specific objectives include an in-depth study of the tradition of fiction where psychologically complex female characters and relationships represent are central to the story, the analysis of a corpus of contemporary novels of this kind and the detailed study of the theoretical and critical perspectives chosen for the textual analysis. As critical framework, I am using feminist psychoanalyst Jessica Benjamin’s theory of intersubjectivity, which revolves around the process of mutual recognition and is based on the concepts of recognition and destruction, and her interpretation of the dynamics of domination. Furthermore, I am carrying out my analysis from a gender perspective and therefore will link it with the dynamics of the patriarchal society.