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Breaking down binaries : gender subversion in Olive Schreiner’s "undine" and "The Story of an African Farm"
Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Pretoria
2020
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| _version_ | 1867613667150790656 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Lenahan, Patrick |
| author_browse | Lenahan, Patrick |
| author_facet | Lenahan, Patrick |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2020. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/75379 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:39:47.098Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateRange | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/75379 Breaking down binaries : gender subversion in Olive Schreiner’s "undine" and "The Story of an African Farm" Lenahan, Patrick lanavbiljon@gmail.com Van Biljon, Lana Olive Schreiner Gender Subversion Gender Theory The Story of an African Farm Undine Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2020. This study investigates a thus far neglected aspect of Olive Schreiner’s feminism, namely her subversion of Victorian gender models in her early novels, Undine and The Story of an African Farm. In order to determine what is being subverted a brief outline is first provided of the nature of traditional male and female Victorian gender characteristics; thereafter, the key arguments of Gender Theory are provided, the cornerstone of which is that gender is a social construct and not determined by biology. Analysis of Undine focusses on Schreiner’s eponymous heroine’s subversion of female gender roles, finding that Undine’s subversion is incomplete, due to her repeated lapses into conventional behaviour, seen mainly in her need to fulfil a role of service. In addition, details in Undine are linked to biographical aspects of Schreiner’s own life as many critics have made a link between Schreiner’s fiction and instances in her life. In The Story of an African Farm attention is given to both female and male gender subversion. Female gender subversion is analysed in the character Lyndall who deviates from accepted female characteristics of women as meek and docile, while discussion also focusses on her more conventional cousin, Em, who by acting as her foil, highlights Lyndall’s subversiveness. Although in comparison to Undine, Lyndall shows great progress in her ability to free herself from traditional roles for women, she remains held back by her inability to break free from the idea that service to something was an inherent part of women’s natures. Finally, Schreiner’s most radical work regarding gender is found in connection with her male characters, Gregory Rose and Waldo. While Schreiner shows the constructed nature of male gender models in her characterisation of Gregory who identifies more with the female gender, Waldo avoids gender categories completely, aligning himself with neither femininity nor masculinity, by finding an “escape” from these artificial social constructs in the natural world. English MA Unrestricted 2020-07-22T10:54:50Z 2020-07-22T10:54:50Z 2020-07 2020 Dissertation Van Biljon, L 2020, Breaking Down Binaries : Gender Subversion in Olive Schreiner’s "Undine" and "The Story of an African Farm", MA Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/75379> S2020 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/75379 en © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | Olive Schreiner Gender Subversion Gender Theory The Story of an African Farm Undine Breaking down binaries : gender subversion in Olive Schreiner’s "undine" and "The Story of an African Farm" |
| title | Breaking down binaries : gender subversion in Olive Schreiner’s "undine" and "The Story of an African Farm" |
| title_full | Breaking down binaries : gender subversion in Olive Schreiner’s "undine" and "The Story of an African Farm" |
| title_fullStr | Breaking down binaries : gender subversion in Olive Schreiner’s "undine" and "The Story of an African Farm" |
| title_full_unstemmed | Breaking down binaries : gender subversion in Olive Schreiner’s "undine" and "The Story of an African Farm" |
| title_short | Breaking down binaries : gender subversion in Olive Schreiner’s "undine" and "The Story of an African Farm" |
| title_sort | breaking down binaries gender subversion in olive schreiner s undine and the story of an african farm |
| topic | Olive Schreiner Gender Subversion Gender Theory The Story of an African Farm Undine |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/75379 |