Muriel Spark's comedy is unnerving, thought-provoking and under-researched. Few studies have inquired into the literary and/or feminist impulses behind the ubiquitous humour of this author's twenty-two novels. Advancing a fresh interpretation of one of Spark's least discussed novels, this thesis aims to establish a deep and detailed understanding of how comedy functions in her work. Generally considered a difficult, inferior follow-up to her much lauded debut as a novelist, Robinson has received little critical attention. But reading this novel in the light of recent literary and cultural critical approaches to women's comedy and feminist humour, this understudied, undervalued novel emerges as a profoundly feminist work by an obliquely and uniquely feminist author. Its comedy and humour allow both heroine and author to resist insidious masculine takeovers, critique patriarchal systems which disallow female participation in literature and culture and, finally, suggest an alternative, better future for womankind, mankind and humankind. Though rarely read through a feminist lens, this thesis aims to (re)consider the questions of whether and in what way Spark may be understood as a feminist author. Additionally, it gestures towards how a similar approach might prove fruitful in reading other Spark texts, as well as other female comic texts.
Date of Award | 2018 |
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Original language | English |
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- feminism in literature
- humorous fiction
- comedy
- Spark
- Muriel
- criticism and interpretation
- Muriel. Robinson
A case study of feminist comedy in Muriel Spark's Robinson
Cooper, A. (Author). 2018
Western Sydney University thesis: Master's thesis