The Disruption of Gender Norms in Ursula K. Le Guin's Always Coming Home: A Feminist Literary Critique
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25130/Lang.9.2.13Keywords:
Egalitarian society, Feminist analysis, Gender performativity, Non-binary gender, Ursula K. Le GuinAbstract
This paper presents a feminist literary analysis of Ursula K. Le Guin's 1985 work, Always Coming Home, focusing on its representations of gender and the challenges they pose to traditional gender norms. In depicting the Kesh, the novel portrays a futuristic egalitarian society in what was once Northern California, which exhibits alternative characteristics to those of contemporary gender dynamics. The analysis draws on Butler's Theory of Gender Performativity to examine how the Kesh society's fluid and non-binary gender expressions disrupt the traditionalist, normative male-female gender binary. It explores how the novel's depiction of gender-neutral roles and responsibilities within the Kesh community challenge stereotypical gender roles. It concentrates in particular on an analysis of the central character, Stone Telling.
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