• ISSN: 2382-6282 (Print); 2972-3108 (Online)
    • Abbreviated Title: Int. J. Lang. Lit. Linguist.
    • Frequency: Bimonthly
    • DOI: 10.18178/IJLLL
    • APC: 500 USD
    • Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Jason Miin-Hwa Lim
    • Managing Editor:  Shira.W.Lu
    • Indexed by:   CNKI, Google Scholar, Crossref,
    • E-mail: ijlll_Editor@126.com
HOME > Archives > 2024 > Volume 10 Number 4 (2024) >
IJLLL 2024 Vol.10(4): 363-371
DOI: 10.18178/IJLLL.2024.10.4.544

From Sex Prisoners to Female Revolters: Feminist Narrative in Norman Mailer’s Novels

Xirong Liu
School of Foreign Studies, East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai, China
E-mail: 3001@ ecupl.edu.cn

Manuscript received March 20, 2024; revised April 10, 2024; accepted May 16, 2024; published August 20, 2024

Abstract—Norman Mailer, a Pulitzer Prize winner and a chronicler of his time, devoted his literary career to the representation of the western culture and the reality of America by putting his trust in sex and illustrating the gender relationship. In his writings, male are often created as robust, violent and powerful while female are often being bullied, humiliated, and defeated. Thus, Mailer has become one of the prime targets of feminist literary critics, being accused as a “prototypical male chauvinist”, a “warrior for male supremacy”, and a “militarist”. However, what these feminists fail to trace are Mailer’s development of feminist thoughts in his writings: The Naked and The Dead models women as prisoners of sex, having no chance to air their voice; The Deer Park exhibits female as passive angry fighters, trying to be heard but failed; finally, Tough Guys Don’t Dance constructs the dynamic female revolters, claiming the initial feminism success. Thereby, Mailer exhibits his positive exploration of feminism thoughts, his view that reality is not sex but personality and individuality, and his desire for a balance between man and woman. This paper is grounded theoretically on psychoanalysis and feminism with textual analysis of the female characters in Mailer’s three novels, progressing from The Naked and The Dead, through The Deer Park, to finally Tough Guys Don’t Dance.

Keywords—Norman Mailer, feminist, psychoanalysis

[PDF]

Cite:Xirong Liu, "From Sex Prisoners to Female Revolters: Feminist Narrative in Norman Mailer’s Novels," International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 363-371, 2024.

PREVIOUS PAPER
A Study on the Reading-Writing Combined English Instruction in Junior High School Based on Thematic Contexts
NEXT PAPER
Time for Tea: Representations of Postcolonial and Chinese Diaspora Culture and Identity in Chuah Guat Eng’s Echoes of Silence
Copyright©2008-2024. International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics. All rights reserved.
E-mail: ijlll_Editor@126.com