Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric, Theory and Culture (PhD)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Humanities

Advisor 1

Lesley Alexandra Morrison

Committee Member 1

Stephanie Carpenter

Committee Member 2

Kette Thomas

Committee Member 3

Dana Van Kooy

Committee Member 4

Charles Wallace

Abstract

Though more frequently discussed in regard to freedom and intersubjectivity, subject formation and recognition have significant potential in helping us understand the structures of power, domination, and resistance in our lived experiences. Through the portrayal of recognition within literature - particularly within feminist dystopian literature - we can see significant examples of not only recognition experiences between characters, but also the acknowledgement of or resistance against unjust and oppressive power structures through recognition. To explore this phenomena, I begin by assessing the experience of empathy – or moral imagination, according to Martha Nussbaum – in reading and in writing, along with the argument surrounding the responsibility of readers and authors. I then draw attention to the presence of moral imagination within feminist dystopia, due to the genre’s inherent magnification of social issues. Following discussions of moral imagination and responsibility, the primary chapters address three varying forms of recognition within feminist dystopian literature: individual, institutional, and self recognition. Though each form expands from the same platform of recognition – from philosophers such as G.W.F Hegel, Jean-Paul Sartre, Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, and others – they not only manifest slightly differently as characters are portrayed as experiencing recognition, but the portrayals also have varying implications in what the characters – and readers – can take away from the portrayals, as well. Specifically, the implications center primarily around the more in-depth understanding of marginalization, oppression, and power that can be gained from experiencing both corrupted and uncorrupted recognition. The implications of understanding and engaging agency through recognition experiences can be seen through feminist dystopian characters engaging and utilizing their agency in a variety of ways to address, challenge, and/or dismantle the oppressive structures around them. Using Nussbaum’s conception of moral imagination as a framework, these implications can lead readers to empathize with these characters and gain similar recognitive and agential experiences in their own lives as well.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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