CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Bertek, Tihana |
|---|---|
| Title | Beyond Gender? Imagining Utopia in Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness |
| Summary | In my thesis I analyze the novel The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) by Ursula K. Le Guin, focusing in particular on the representation of androgyny and the discussions of gender, sexual difference and humanness that it engenders. I argue that science fiction and utopia, as critical and potentially revolutionary genres, provide a fecund ground for a feminist critique of the present society and imagining possible alternatives. I also look at feminism’s conflicted relationship with the myth or concept of androgyny and suggest that even today it can be a useful tool for questioning our ideas about gender and identity because it is an emblem of our inability to “solve” the problem of sexual difference. Finally, I am interested in Le Guin’s vision of androgyny which is processual, non-essential, and rejects the idea of opposition as the driving force of progress. Her contribution, I contend, lies in the attempt to rethink dualism without hierarchy and to acknowledge the interdependence of the two principles (masculine/feminine) in creating wholeness. |
| Supervisor | Lukic, Jasmina |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/bertek_tihana.pdf |
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