Identity creation and womanhood: A comparison between Eileen Chang and Jeanette Winterson and the cultural influence in literary context

Abstract

The paper undertakes a comparative analysis in the fictional writing of two contemporary authors, Eileen Chang and Jeanette Winterson, hailing for two different cultures, Chinese-American and British respectively. The paper focusses on the literary works of the two authors to address how the cultural influence shapes their fiction and their use of the English language to establish the female identity and gender expression empowered by their ethnic and cultural roots. The comparative analysis studies the novella Love in a Fallen City (1943) by Eileen Change to identify how the experiences of a divorced woman in China is shaped by the social influences and that marginalises her based on the marital status and relegates her real identity. To draw a comparison with the text critically and study the themes of gender and womanhood, the paper also investigates the novel Oranges are Not the Only Fruit (1985) by Jeanette Winterson. This records the experiences of identifying as a lesbian by an English woman in an English Pentecostal society and the influence of social standards on her identity formation. This approach can significantly study the way women authors use language as a tool to challenge the social standards of heteronormativity and traditional female identity and establish the true female identity.