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(De)Construction of Gender Stereotypes in Helen Fielding’s novels “Bridget Jones's Diary” (1996) and “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason” (1999) Abstract This Master thesis focuses on two (anti)feminist novels "Bridget Jones’s Diary" (1996) and its sequel – "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" (1999) by an English novelist Helen Fielding. The aim of this thesis was to examine the ways in which gender identity was (de)constructed in these novels as a result of gender stereotyping which, in most cases, suggests the suppression and victimisation of women in the patriarchal society. In order to analyse the (de)construction of gender identity, in particular, continuous challenges that women have to face in the postmodern era, this thesis implements theories by the new French feminists Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigaray and Helene Cixous. The method of close reading together with Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity and intertextual analysis of two novels were applied to explore the ways in which male and female gender roles were (de)constructed for the subversive effect. The examination of "Bridget Jones’s Diary" and "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" through the analytical lens of Butler’s gender performativity proved that a subversion of gender stereotypes arose as a result of individual’s denial to conform to the norms of the society. Although femininity and masculinity were questioned in both of the novels, the study proved that the pressure to conform to heteronormativity seemed to be greater among women rather than men. Moreover, this thesis also demonstrated that the tool of irony was aimed at challenging the idea of traditional gender identity and, in particular, to mock contemporary women’s quest for autonomy and self-improvement, whereas self-deprecating irony directed at Bridget revealed her failure to achieve self-perfection and feminist ideals. The intertextual analysis of the two novels partially confirmed that an intertext in "Bridget Jones’s Diary" offered more plot and character archetypes than its sequel, thus resulting in more cases of subversion. Finally, the implementation of the New French Feminist theory together with aforementioned tools of literary analysis proved that although in the postmodern world women demonstrate more agency and freedom than in previous decades, their identity is still shaped by the dominance of the patriarchy. |
