The evolving self in the novels of Gail Godwin
By: Lihong Xie.
Series: Southern literary studies
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Baton Rouge
Language: eng
Number of pages: 242
Subjects: Godwin, Gail -- Criticism and interpretation.; Feminism and literature -- Southern States -- History -- 20th century.; Women and literature -- Southern States -- History -- 20th century.; Psychological fiction, American -- History and criticism.; Self in literature.
Description: Drawing on a rich vein of feminist theory and research, Xie illuminates Godwin's representation of female identity, the development of her vision, and the evolution of her art.

Xie's explorations proceed chronologically through Godwin's oeuvre, capturing the essential themes of her novels: female victimization and self-search, in The Perfectionists and Glass People; becoming a heroine, in The Odd Woman; restructuring the self, in Violet Clay and The Finishing School; dialogic interaction, in A Mother and Two Daughters and A Southern Family; and the journey beyond personal identity, in Father Melancholy's Daughter.

As Xie leads us through these works, we find Godwin's evolving heroines emerging out of lively, intense, sometimes painful dialogue with both the self - past, present, and future - and the social world of family, birthplace, culture, and friendships.

Xie reveals Godwin's very idea of the self as mediating between the humanist concept of a centered identity and postmodernism's radical denial of selfhood. Fluid and in process, Godwin's heroines, she argues, become more coherent through constant self-examination, more autonomous through the exercise of memory and interpretive power, more authentic by means of continuous self-redefinition. They affirm the humanist ideal amid the challenges of a fragmented modern world.

Of special value is Xie's integration of the theories of Mikhail Bakhtin with contemporary work on the female Bildungsroman. She clearly demonstrates how Bakhtin's concept of language, with its stress on plurality and multiplicity, helps us understand Godwin's experimentation with and deft handling of diverse voices.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [229]-234) and index.