ABSTRACT

This article analyzes the feminist use of space in Aritha van Herk’s self-identified mixed work of geography and fiction. It fundamentally draws on scholarly work that has already focused on the spatial importance in van Herk’s fiction. For example, using Marlene Goldman’s insights, I examine the crucial role of space in women’s search for freedom and the interrogation of traditional gender norms. Her novels primarily explore how new settings – places with different gender-based codes – may result in new roles or options for the female subject. Thus, the author’s mapping consists of taking the characters to unusual venues or having them follow unconventional paths in order to expand the borders of the possible for women. Yet, the essay not only approaches the key interplay between place and gender but also aims to highlight the engagement with more recent perspectives that recognize the colonizing aspects of writings about exploration and place. In fact, I will show this colonial awareness informs to a great extent the feminist concern with mapping a new territory. Furthermore, the author is also particularly intent on inscribing the body, which has gathered less critical attention in comparison with the existing analyses of space.

摘要

本文分析了 Aritha van Herk 自我认同的地理和小说混合作品中女性主义对空间的使用。它从根本上借鉴了已经关注范赫克小说中空间重要性的学术工作。例如，利用 Marlene Goldman 的见解，我研究了空间在女性寻求自由和质疑传统性别规范中的关键作用。她的小说主要探索新的环境——基于不同性别的地方——如何为女性主体带来新的角色或选择。因此，作者的映射包括将角色带到不寻常的场所或让他们走非常规的道路，以扩大女性可能的边界。然而，这篇文章不仅探讨了地方与性别之间的关键相互作用，而且还旨在强调与更近的观点的参与，这些观点认识到关于探索和地方的著作的殖民方面。事实上，我将表明这种殖民意识在很大程度上反映了女权主义者对绘制新领土的关注。此外，作者还特别致力于刻录身体，与现有的空间分析相比，身体受到的关注较少。