Browsing by Author "Le Marquand, Jane Nicole"

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    'I'm not a woman writer, but--' : gender matters in New Zealand women's short fiction 1975-1995 : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2006) Le Marquand, Jane Nicole
    From the late 1970s, New Zealand women short story writers increasingly worked their way into the literary mainstream. In the wake of the early, feminist-motivated years of the decade their gender, which had previously been the root of their marginalized position, began to work for them. However, rather than embracing womanhood, this growth in gender recognition led to many writers rejecting overt identification of their sex. To be a labeled a woman writer was considered patronising, a mark of inferiority. These women wanted to be known as writers only, some even expressing a hope for literature to reach a point of androgyny. Their work, however, did not convey an androgynous perspective. Just as the fact of their gender could not be avoided, so the influence their sex had on their creativity cannot be denied. Gender does matter and New Zealand women's short fiction published in the 1975-1995 period illustrates its significance. From the early trend for adopting fiction as a site for social commentary and political treatise against patriarchy's one-dimensional image of woman, these stories show a gradually increasing awareness of fictional possibilities, allowing for celebration of the multiplicity of female experience and capturing a process of redefinition rather than rejection of 'women's work'. Though in the later 1990s it may no longer have been politically 'necessary' to promote women's work on the grounds of gender, on a personal level the 'difference of view' of the woman writer remained both visible and vital. An increasing sense of woman-to-woman communication based on shared experience emerges: women are writing as women, about women, for women.
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    Kate Chopin as feminist : subverting the French andocentric influence : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in English at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1998) Le Marquand, Jane Nicole
    As nineteenth century woman taking the pen, Kate Chopin ran the risk of becoming overcome by a patriarchal literary tradition, of losing herself as female writer. And doubly so, in turning to male mentor Guy de Maupassant, himself so entrenched in the androcentric dictates of this tradition, for creative inspiration. Ironically, however, it is in the very act of Maupassantian emulation that Chopin's feminist subversivesness lies. In the creation of her short stories, appropriation becomes reappropriation. Patriarchal literary traditions become tools in the very act of their own subversion, as androcentric means meet resoundingly feminist ends. And as the technical strength of Maupassantian influence grows, so too does the effectiveness of the subversive message carried therein. The Poesque form of Maupassant, his unobtrusive, amoral style, his despondent, pessimistic philosophy, all come together in the work of Chopin, but her result epitomises the victory of feminist subversive survival. And it is a victory not only read but also felt as Chopin's focus shifts, under the guidance of Maupassant, from lengthy expositions of the externalities of female experience to increasingly concentrated and deeply insightful psychological journeys of womanhood. Feelings and emotional responses come to take precedence over action; overt feminist treatise is replaced by the subtlely effective "voice couvert" - the hidden voice of feminism. Thus, Chopin disrupts the discourse of patriarchy from within, simultaneously subscribing to and subverting Maupassant's male-centred perspective. She swims against the currents of tradition, maintaining her individuality and identity as woman writer even as she speaks of the despair and hopelessness this condition brings. The French androcentric influence is overturned.