Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 7-2006 “A Highly Ambiguous Condition”: The Transgender Subject, Experimental Narrative and Trans-Reading Identity in the Fiction of Virginia Woolf, Angela Carter, and Jeanette Winterson Jennifer A. Smith Western Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons Recommended Citation Smith, Jennifer A., "“A Highly Ambiguous Condition”: The Transgender Subject, Experimental Narrative and Trans-Reading Identity in the Fiction of Virginia Woolf, Angela Carter, and Jeanette Winterson" (2006). Dissertations. 990. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/990 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “A HIGHLY AMBIGUOUS CONDITION”: THE TRANSGENDER SUBJECT, EXPERIMENTAL NARRATIVE AND TRANS-READING IDENTITY IN THE FICTION OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, ANGELA CARTER, AND JEANETTE WINTERSON by Jennifer A. Smith A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English Dr. Gwen Raaburg, Advisor Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan July 2006 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. “A HIGHLY AMBIGUOUS CONDITION”: THE TRANSGENDER SUBJECT, EXPERIMENTAL NARRATIVE AND TRANS-READING IDENTITY IN THE FICTION OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, ANGELA CARTER, AND JEANETTE WINTERSON Jennifer A. Smith, Ph.D. Western Michigan University, 2006 This dissertation examines how the constantly evolving gender identity of a text’s transgender subject relates to the text’s narrative structure and shapes the orientation of the reader to the text. Accordingly, this project examines how these transgender narratives deploy experimental stylistic techniques that enhance the reader’s experience of ceaseless transitioning by revealing gender as a constant process that never solidifies onto a body and by highlighting the text’s own status as process rather than finalized product. Further, this project examines how a transgender subject and his/her relationship to the body, culture, and narrative is involved in the re-vision of three conventional discourses: biography, myth, and romance. Ultimately, this research presents a trans-reading identity as an interpretive framework that reads gender ambiguity and fluid sexuality into as well as out of texts. This reading position provides the reader with interpretive tools that will allow for a multiplicity of gendered reading positions beyond the male/female binary and opens up texts to complex interpretations that highlight the relationship between their narrative experimentation and their critique of stable gender positions. The focal novels are Orlando by Virginia Woolf, The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson, and this study argues that such transgender narratives allow readers access to not only a trans-reading position but to a new way of viewing the world beyond the confines placed upon them by a monolithic heterosexism. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3221658 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3221658 Copyright 2006 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Jennifer A. Smith 2006 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to begin by thanking my committee members: Dr. Gwen Raaberg, Dr. Christopher Nagle, Dr. Jil Larson, and Dr. Paula Brush. They graciously allowed me to write and research on my own terms, with just enough guidance to prevent me from tripping over myself and just enough encouragement to catch me when I did end up getting in my own way. I would also like to thank my friends Melanie, Isaac, Bob, J.P and Naomi for supporting me through this process by providing lots of laughs and listening to me whine and moan about it. Mel Boyajian deserves a singular thanks; her enthusiasm not only for this project but for all things in life is infectious and inspiring and helped to fuel its completion. In addition, I must acknowledge my constant writing companions Roy and Giguere, who compelled me to take much-needed breaks by forcing themselves onto my lap or fighting with each other. A thank you goes out to my family as well. Although none of them ever set eyes on this project and probably wouldn’t understand even if they did, they always asked when it was going to be done and at least acted like they were interested when I talked about it, and for that, I am grateful. Also, although neither of my grandparents lived long enough to see me graduate from high school, their simple strength has seen me through many moments, and I’m certain they’ll be watching this graduation. Finally, I would like to thank Jason. He is embedded in each of the 70,546 words of this dissertation, and I would need at least three times as many words even to begin to list the reasons why he deserves this thanks. Jennifer A. Smith ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.......................................... ii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 1 Literature Review...................................................................................... 2 Cultural Construction of Gender and Sex ...................................... 2 Gender Studies, Gay and Lesbian Studies and Queer Theory 10 The Body and Textuality ..................................................... 14 Emerging Trans Studies Issues and Theories of Trans Subjectivity..................... 20 Focus of Dissertation ............................................. 34 Various Forms and Types of Trans Narratives............................. 35 Trans-Reading Identity............................................. 40 Historical Context........................................................ 48 O utline ................................................................................................ 54 Method ..................... 57 Contribution to Field................................................................................. 59 Endnotes ..................................................................................................... 60 II. VIRGINIA WOOLF’S TRANS-FORMATIVE BIOGRAPHY.................. 67 “That queer amalgamation”: Trans-forming Biography ...................... 82 “The queer element of the human spirit”: Trans-mitting a Transgender Moment of Being ....................................................... 95 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents— Continued “A reader’s part”: Carving Out a Trans-Reading Identity................... 102 Endnotes ...................................................................................................... I l l III. ANGELA CARTER’S TRANS-FORMATIVE MYTH .............................. 117 “Flesh uncreates the world”: Gender Myths and the Re-Vision of the Hermaphrodite ............................................................... 126 “A place where contrarieties are equally true”: The Transgender Subject and Speculative Environments.................................................. 143 Transgender Visibility: “Reading” One’s Self as a Posttranssexual........................................................................................... 154 Endnotes ...................................................................................................... 164 IV. JEANETTE WINTERSON’S TRANS-FORMATIVE ROMANCE 173 “And so the word was made flesh”: A Postmodern Language of Love............................................................................................................. 186 Transgender Body and Queer Time and Place ....................................... 199 “Your flesh is my flesh”: Universalizing and Maintaining a Trans-Reading Identity.............................................................................. 207 Endnotes .....................................................................................................