(Ne)mogućnost ženskog Bildungsromana

The paper argues that the mode in which becoming a woman is inscribed in the cultural imaginary is incompatible with the ideologematics of the genre of Bildungsroman. Starting with V. Woolf’s novel To the Lighthouse, the article discusses canonic literary texts such as “The Bell Jar” and „The Djinn in Nightingale’s Eye“ in order to show that the abortive pattern of teleological narration is inherent to the representation of the feminine in the Western culture. Even the concept of écriture féminine is ambivalent, since it defines female writing as coming from the body, thus reinforcing the stereotype of woman’s dominion being nature, and male culture. Though they represent an important breakthrough in the portrayal of female lives and are subversive to the binary stereotypes of femininity/masculinity, recent female narratives nonetheless testify to the impossibility of the (re)possession of the metaphysical space of representation. Therefore, they have been compartmentalised in the niche of women’s writing, as in their self-definition culturally dominant narratives are still depended on the traditonal (patriarchal) conceptualization of femininity.Članak želi pokazati kako je žanr Bildungsromana nespojiv s imaginiranjem ženskosti u zapadnjačkoj kulturi do te mjere da svaki pokušaj pisanja ženskoga Bildungsromana prerasta u negaciju njegove ideologematske strukture, kao što to pokazuju romani V. Woolf “Ka svjetioniku,” “Stakleno zvono” S. Plath, te pripovijetka “Džin u ‘slavujevu oku’” S. A. Byatt. Upitna je i emancipatornost koncepta écriture féminine, jer i on ponavlja tradicionalnu dihotomiju o ženi kao prirodi, a muškarcu kao kulturi. Iako suvremena ženska proza značajno širi tematski opseg i prevrednuje stereotipe u prikazivanju ženskosti, ona ipak svjedoči o nemogućnosti inskripcije ženskoga subjekta u metafizički prostor kulture. Stoga ona ostaje getoizirana u prostoru ženske tematike, dok je dominantna kulturna naracija i dalje ovisna o patrijarhalnoj (muškoj) konceptualizaciji načela ženskosti