FEMALE CHARACTERS IN THE JOHN FOWLES NOVELS THE MAGUS. THE COLETOR AND THE FRENCH LIEUTERANT\u27S WOMAN FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF POSTMODERNISM

V magistrskem delu analiziramo najbolj brane romane Johna Fowlesa, angleškega pisatelja, ki ga mnogi predstavljajo kot enega temeljnih avtorjev postmodernizma: Zbiratelj, Mag in Ženska francoskega poročnika. Izhajamo iz postmodernizma v Fowlesovih romanih, ki ga zaznamuje vzpostavljanje fikcije, grajene na večplastni resničnosti, v kateri sta resničnost in neresničnost pogosto enačeni. Postmodernizem v romanih je izražen z avtorjevim poseganjem v zgodbo z avtorskimi komentarji, citiranjem avtorjev, njihovih književnih in znanstvenih del, mešanjem visoke in nizke literature, umetnostnih in neumetnostnih besedil, vnašanjem številnih zgodovinskih dejstev in natančnih opisov v zgodbi ter za Fowlesa še posebej izrazitimi odprtimi konci. Največ prostora v magistrskem delu posvečamo ženskim likom, ki jih opredeljujemo kot stereotipno zasnovane like, ki jih določajo brezobličnost, nestabilnost, pasivnost, omejenost, pobožnost, telesnost, duhovnost, iracionalnost in voljnost. V skladu s teorijo postmodernističnih likov ženske opredeljujemo tudi kot postmodernistične like, ki kažejo raznolikost, variabilnost, dvojnost, tudi znotraj enega romana, enigmatičnost, skrivnostnost, nejasnost in nerazumljivost, predvsem pa nepodrejenost mimesis, katero postmodernistični liki pogosto spodkopavajo. Ženske like določajo biološka, socialna in psihološka koda. Najizrazitejša postmodernistična značilnost ženskih likov je dejstvo, da predstavljajo svojo verzijo resničnosti, kar pomeni, da Fowles prav s sopostavljanjem ženskega in moškega sveta prikaže pluralnost resničnosti. V sklepnih poglavjih ugotavljamo, da se Fowles v romanih poslužuje prvoosebnega in tretjeosebnega pripovedovalca, s pomočjo katerih gradi ženske like kot stereotipne in postmodernistične. Prvoosebni pripovedovalec in prvoosebni avtorski komentarji so sredstvo, s katerim Fowles razbija eno izmed resničnosti, ki jih gradi. Prav raba prvoosebnega pripovedovalca in prvoosebnih avtorskih komentarjev sta namreč tista, ki Fowlesu omogočata izražanje stereotipnih mnenj o ženskah, ki predstavljajo eno od resničnosti v Fowlesovi fikciji.The master thesis analyses the bestselling novels The Collector, The Magus and The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles, an English writer presented by many as one of the core authors of postmodernism. We start from postmodernism in Fowles’ works marked by establishing fiction built on multi-layered reality where reality and fiction are often made equal. Postmodernism in these novels is expressed by the author’s intervention into history with authorial comments, citations of authors and their literary and scientific works, mixing high and low literature, literary and other texts, adding numerous historical facts and detailed descriptions to the plot and open endings which are so characteristic for Fowles. Most attention in the thesis is devoted to female characters defined as stereotypically designed characters determined by formlessness, instability, passiveness, narrow-mindedness, piety, physicality, spirituality, irrationality and compliance. In accordance with the theory of postmodern characters, the women are also characterised as postmodern characters which show diversity, variability, duality, also in one single novel, obscureness, mysteriousness, lack of clarity and incomprehensibility but mostly non-subordination mimesis which postmodern characters often undermine. Female characters are determined by the biological, social and psychological code. The most notable postmodern characteristic of female characters is the fact that they represent their version of reality which means that Fowles shows the plurality of reality by paralleling the female and male world. The findings show that Fowles uses first-person and third-person narrative in his novels with which he builds female characters as stereotypical and postmodern. The first-person narrator and first-person authorial comments are the means with which Fowles breaks up one of the realities he sets up. The use of first-person narrator and first-person authorial comments are namely the ones which enable Fowles to express stereotypical opinions about women which represent one of the realities in Fowles’ fiction