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العنوان
Ecofeminism in Octavia Butler’s Parable of The Sower (1993) and
Doris Lessing’s Mara and Dann: An Adventure (1999) /
المؤلف
Slema, Nada Ayman Mohamed.
هيئة الاعداد
باحث / ندى أيمن محمد سليمة
مشرف / هالة سيد المتولي
مناقش / مصطفي رياض مصطفي
مناقش / سمر محمد عبد السلام
تاريخ النشر
2022.
عدد الصفحات
153 P. :
اللغة
الإنجليزية
الدرجة
ماجستير
التخصص
الأدب والنظرية الأدبية
تاريخ الإجازة
1/1/2022
مكان الإجازة
جامعة عين شمس - كلية الألسن - قسم اللغة الانجليزية
الفهرس
Only 14 pages are availabe for public view

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from 153

Abstract

The idea of women’s empowerment is one of the most controversial issues all over the globe. It is defined as supporting women’s self-esteem, ability to make their own decisions, and right to influence societal change for themselves and others. Female empowerment is frequently associated with distinct eras of the women’s rights movement in Western countries. It has a strong relation with issues of gender equality, the right to qualified education, the right to work, and the right to express themselves freely in different fields of life. It is a standpoint against the patriarchal power that negates women’s rights to rule and lead. Women around the world continue to face major obstacles and they are traditionally underrepresented in positions of authority and decision-making. The main goal of women’s empowerment is to get rid of all the taboos relevant to underestimating women’s abilities and limiting them to specific scopes of life, already determined by men.
Since all the perspectives of life are interconnected with the social role of women and the call for empowerment, the significance of this thesis is to trace the intersection between women’s empowerment and nature’s empowerment. The thesis tackles the growing phenomena of relating women to nature and highlighting their common issues from an ecofeminist point of view. As previously illustrated, women’s empowerment includes eliminating all shapes of violence, inequality and degradation. Ecofeminists stand for the empowerment of all the living creatures against the patriarchal system. Accordingly, writing about ecofeminism is a powerful tool to stress women’s empowerment.
This thesis examines women’s empowerment in relation to ecofeminism through analyzing two novels: Octavia Butler’s Parable of The Sower (1993) and Doris Lessing’s Mara and Dann: An Adventure (1999(. The analysis will be in the light of Karren Warren, Greta Gaard, and Carolyn Merchant’s theories of social ecofeminism and cultural ecofeminism. Women’s empowerment as social reformers and modern mythmakers will be discussed through the lens of contemporary theorists such as Murray Boockchin, Joseph Campbell, christopher Vogler, Northrope Frye, Eric Neumann and Carl Jung
The thesis tackles a growing interest in ecofeminist and post-apocalyptic works. In other words, there is a need to be introduced to expected social and cultural damage because of ecological destruction. It highlights the techniques of both Butler and Lessing in writing an ecofeminist novels. Furthermore, it provides a close analysis of their works and how it is influenced by post-apocalyptic techniques. It compares both texts, through an ecofeminist approach, depending on different modern studies and theories on cultural and social ecofeminism as well as modern myth and its techniques.
The thesis focuses on social ecofeminism and cultural ecofeminism. On the social ecofeminist level, the two protagonists do not conform to the rules and regulations of their societies. They have a struggle against patriarchal oppression. They are trying to reform their societies and to find a way to end wars. They call for freedom and liberation for both women and nature. This thesis relates the social ecofeminist aspect of the plot and the characters to different theories like social ecology, gender equality, and the social hierarchy of oppression. On the cultural ecofeminist level, the study introduces two protagonists as modern mythmakers. Cultural ecofeminism stands against the power of religion and traditional norms that manipulates people’s minds and enslave them. Mythological techniques are used to analyze the cultural ecofeminist aspect of the two novels. This thesis proves that a modern myth could be a “Monomyth” of two normal protagonists without special power.
This thesis is divided into three chapters and a conclusion. Chapter one is to scrutinize ecofeminism comprehensively and chronologically. The chapter reveals the development of the ecofeminist theory within a wide spectrum from its early examples until the era of modernism. This section will also analyze the emergence and development of social ecofeminism and cultural ecofeminism as ecofeminist sub-genres. Notions that have flourished from these movements such as deep ecology, social ecology and mythology are also to be studied thoroughly in order to establish the necessary framework for the analysis of Butler and Lessing’s novels. Chapter two delves into the subgenre of social ecofeminism. Derived from environmental activist Murray Bookchin’s theory of Social ecology, social ecofeminism is a branch of ecofeminism that associates the oppression of women with hierarchical notions and institutions such as patriarchy and the bourgeoisie. In other words, this chapter highlights women empowerment as social reformers in different fields of life. Chapter three focuses on cultural ecofeminism in the two novels. It sets the relation between the two heroines and mythology. This section discusses the different modern myth theories. Moreover, the two heroines mythical characteristics and the critique of cultural ecofeminism in the two novels are argued in detail. Mara and Lauren’s backgrounds, upbringings and relationships with other characters are exposed with examples from the novel with special reference to archetypes. Furthermore, it also reveals how and to what extent the oppression of the two heroines is parallel to the oppression of nature. In other words, this chapter introduces women’s empowerment in relation to modern myth making. The conclusion, presents a summing up of the thesis as a whole in addition to the findings that grow from the analysis of the chapters. It also provides sufficient answers for the raised questions.