Postcolonial Feminist Theory: An Overview - Igcollege.org

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Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nandedalthough he knows she isn’t wholly content withher uneventful existence, “chaos is the oppositepole of boredom” [HV–11], Marianne – likeother Carter heroines – opts for chaos. As wehave already observed, in the process, shebecomes the willing hostage of the Barbarianyouth Jewel, and, later, his wife.She also, inevitably, learns what liesbeneath the Barbarian façade, and so beginswhat Lorna Sage describes as “the novel’ssceptical exploration of the whole mystiqueof otherness”. [Sage: 1994, P.18]Carter introduces a discussion of genderrelationships which becomes explicit, highlycomplicated, akin to the kinds of issues that havepreoccupied her first novel onwards, where theparticipation of women like Ghislaine in theprocess of their own, extreme, victimization is aproblematic aspect of the text. Though Cartercreates a similar kind of situation, the differentperspectives of the participants makes aprofound difference. Explaining the bareaspects of the story, as Paulina Palmer says, itseems quite clear who is victim, who aggressor:Jewel’s treatment of her [Marianne]quickly lapses into physical violence.Having persuaded her to steal a lorry anddrive him to freedom, he hits her to makeher drive faster subsequently, he introducesher into the tribe to which he belongs.When she tries to escape, he follows her toher hiding place in the forest, and rapesher.[Palmer: 1987, P.188]But Paulina as Palmer argues, althoughCarter thus “runs the risk of tainting her fictionwith the attitude associated with popular genreswhich exploit the topic of sex and violence forthe purpose of titillation”, it is a problem she“succeeds in surmounting”.[Palmer: 1987,P.188] Palmer justifies her statement byfocusing on Carter’s liberal humanistictendencies, claiming that not only does sheendow Marianne with a resourceful and defiantpersonality, but also invites compassion forJewel who, “trapped in codes of aggression andcompetition”,[Palmer: 1987, P. 188] isdetermined to dominate Marianne basically outof fear. Thus, just as Carter succeeds increditing her female protagonists with a strongdegree of autonomy, so too she manages tomake her male protagonists convincingly drawnhuman beings, without in any way condoningthe acts of violence they commit. Herrepresentation of them, trapped in codes ofaggression and competition, comes remarkablyclose to the memorable definition of masculinitycoined by Frankie Rickford who suggests that:Masculinity may be a state of frozen terror andthe urgency of men’s sexual desire, adesperation to bury themselves in a warm bodyto escape from it for a few seconds.[Rickford:1983, P. 142]All through the novel, it is observed thatJewel’s acts of violence are basically due to hisinnate desire to dominate Marianne, and he isovercome by the fear factor also. The veryreason he gives for the rape of Marianne is thathe is “very frightened” of her [HV–56]. He isalso surprised at the discovery that she does not“sprout sharp teeth in her private parts” [HV–49,59] a piece of propaganda promulgated bythe tribe to which he belongs. He isoverwhelmed by any sign of her vulnerabilityand even interprets it as a proof of his capacityto subjugate her completely. Further histriumphant remark, “I’ve nailed you onnecessity, you poor bitch”, [HV–56], when hisheinous act of rape forces her into marriage withhim, pinpoints the urgency of the power strugglein which he feels himself to be engaged. Thevery tattoo of Eve tempting Adam with aperfidious smile on his back, has the power toplace this struggle in the context of misogynisticculture. It succeeds in lifting it from the lesserpersonal place to a political and ideological one.An important point raised by Carter’streatment of the interrelation between sex andviolence in her fiction is, the possibility ofdistinguishing the text that gives a seriousthought to the issue and the one that is a mereexercise of pornography. This is furtheramplified, as critics observe by the ambiguity ofthe visual image or a textual episode. Thus thereis always the possibility of one reader,interpreting as a serious investigation, into thefemale victim’s response to the experience ofviolent sex, while another regarding it aspornographic. But Carter’s austerely functionalstyle of writing in Heroes and Villains leaves noroom for ambiguity. Overall, she appears to becondemnatory of male sexual violence. There isabsolutely no voyeuristic pleasure to be gained303 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1
Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nandedfrom Carter’s depiction of rape because it isportrayed as an act born out of fear andinsecurity rather than a sadistic desire fordomination and since the female protagonistsrefuses to be cowed by it, ultimately gainingascendancy over the man who threatens her.Heroes and Villains also offers achallenge to the construction of femininesubjects. The narrative itself at one level, is afairy-tale romance between Marianne, ‘the onlyrational woman left in the whole world’ [HV–55] and Jewel, ‘probably the most beautiful manleft in the world’ [HV–61]. This descriptionitself heralds a reversal of conventionalrepresentations of gender [masculine equatedwith mind; feminine with body], and reversal isan important aspect in Carter’s subversion ofsuch repressive ideologies. Within her rewritingof the fantastic text she attempts to decolorizethe representation of women’s bodies and desire.[Carter: 1983, P. 75]Marianne’s search for the ‘other’ultimately ends in self, since she realizes thatunderneath the superficial glamour of Jewel’sappearance, is the echoes of her own violent,repressed desire reflected back to her. Theoutcome is that Heroes and Villains not onlyanticipates Carter’s controversial deconstructionof female innocence and victimisation in TheSadeian Woman, but also ultimately strips thedandy of his theatrical façade. At first glance,Marianne may be the victim of Jewel’s violence,but towards the end he becomes her victim, theallusion to the blood with which the one witnessto his death is “covered from head to toe” [HV –149] – a last reminder of the potent blend ofdesire, violence and narcissism which has beenthe hallmark of all the interactions betweenthem. Lorna Sage amplifies this argument:“Though Jewel is the rapist, he is also the sexobjectand victim…. And although Marianne isthe victim, she is also the puppet- master’ssuccessor” [Sage: 1994, P.15]Ultimately Marianne realizes that chaosis worse than order, but she is not ready to goback to her systematic life. Instead, she bringsherself into the chaos, and completelytransforms it from the inside. During her staywith the Barbarians, she has met the shaman ofthe Barbarian tribe and former Professor,Donally, and from him learned the potential ofillusion. Donally maintains his power throughthe ritual manipulation of myth and symbol, andfinally when he is banished and Jewel is dead,Marianne steps into his role. Since shemiserably fails in her attempt to find theglamorous objective of her desire, the other,Marianne quickly transforms herself into an iconof otherness – the ‘the tiger lady’ who will rulethe Barbarians “with a rod of iron” [HV–150].This ultimate production of transformed self,takes the reader back to Carter’s first novel andHoneybuzzard, her definitive dandy, compelled“to face the task of producinghimself”[Foncault: 1984, P.42] in the knowledgethat there is no ‘essential’ self to fall back on.But unlike Honeybuzzard, Marianne has a goalmuch more than self. She, being the product ofa police state, quite deliberately combinesmythic spectacle with strong political purpose,intending to “frighten them so much they’ll doevery single thing I say.” [HV–150].Towards the end of the book, a numberof role reversals happen. The dandy has beeneliminated and his mystique has beenappropriated and used against him. Animportant aspect to be noted is that thetransformed dandy figure is now, impossibly,female. It is a rare moment that signifies animportant change in Carter’s portrayal of thefemale subject, for it pin points that Mariannehas now come out of the shackles of thestereotyped roles – daughter, victim, wife andwhore – in which she has been complicit fromthe beginning of the text; a great thing whichnone of Carter’s other female characters havehitherto achieved so definitely. Even Melanie,the character, who before Marianne, has gonefurthest along the road to emancipation, freezesin the face of autonomy, uncertain, it seems,what to do with her new-found freedom – iffreedom it is.Carter’s analysis in Heroes and Villains,with its futuristic setting, of masculine powerand the categories it create obviously relatesdirectly to the contemporary world. Asemphasized by Carter, women in the past as wellas now, don’t have much alternates in thepatriarchal world, to express their identity.Heroes and Villains also takes to a new, higherlevel of sophistication many of the points Carterhas begun to explore in her first three books.304 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1
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