Alternative Forms of the Nation in Women's Fiction

Authors

  • Nadia Der-Ohannesian Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

Keywords:

nation, The Farming of Bones, In the Name of Salomé, female narratives

Abstract

The present study explores the construction of the concept of nation in Edwidge Danticat's The Farming of Bones (1998) and Julia Alvarez's In the Name of Salomé (2000). It is my contention that female narratives construct alternative notions of the nation that defy the rigidity of boundaries around spheres, communities and territories, typical of traditional masculinist constructions of national identity. Danticat's novel exposes the violence implied in national identities constructed around racial superiority, exclusion, and the exaltation of powerful leaders. Alvarez's novel places emphasis on the notion of nation as process, the permeability of the public/private limit, and the deterritorialization of national identity

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Author Biography

Nadia Der-Ohannesian, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

Es Profesora y Licenciada en Lengua y Literatura Inglesas, y Doctora en Cs. del Lenguaje con mención en Literaturas Comparadas por la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Actualmente posee beca posdoctoral de CONICET y se desempeña como Profesora Adjunta en la materia Introducción a la Literatura de Habla Inglesa, de la carrera del Traductorado de Inglés de la Facultad de Lenguas, UNC.

References

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Danticat, Edwidge. The Farming of Bones. New York: Penguin Books, 1999. Print.

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Yuval-Davis, Nira. Gender and Nation. London: SAGE, 2012. SAGE Knowledge. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.

Published

2015-12-01

How to Cite

Der-Ohannesian, N. (2015). Alternative Forms of the Nation in Women’s Fiction. Revista De Culturas Y Literaturas Comparadas, 5. Retrieved from https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/CultyLit/article/view/13220