Identity and female agency in three postcolonial texts.

摘要

Utilizing postcolonial theory, this thesis explores the positions of women in Bharati Mukherjee's Jasmine, Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, and Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things. Although immense unbalances of power exist that work against the women in these 3 texts, they are neither completely powerless nor voiceless. It is not possible to simplify the struggles of the characters by looking at only 1 factor such as race, gender, class, or caste; the matrix of factors influence each character differently, and consequently each woman finds herself alternately marginalized and empowered. The women actively resist (with varying degrees of success) the dominant culture's hegemonic structures. This thesis aims to expose how women exercise agency in their own lives, while still recognizing the multiple factors hindering their voices. Ultimately, these restraints do not completely muffle these women; instead, the unique conditions of their existence enable new forms of creative self-expression.