Faranak Kakanaeini - English Department, Payame Noor University, ۱۹۳۹۵-۴۶۹۷ Tehran, I.R. of Iran.

This paper discusses the fragmentary nature of bodies and identities in Carter’s The Passion of New Eve following the critical platforms of a psychoanalytic and feminist approach to fixed gender identity. The motif of fragmentation is treated in this novel on the level of psychological identity as well as on the level of the body. The paper analyzes the links between the body and feminine identity as well as the link between the body and the text, accenting specific themes of second wave feminism, such as reproductive rights, motherhood, pregnancy, pornography, and rape. Within the concepts of patriarchal oppression and the reduction of women to their breeding function, Carter reflects on the tension between these concepts. She recognizes cultural influences, and sees the female body as a battle site for social repression. Psychoanalytic theory links the perception of the body and notions of the self. Images of body fragmentation can indicate a possibility of the dissolution and disintegration of the unified ego. The representations of corporeal disintegration that frequently occur in Carter’s text can manifest quite a threat to the unity of the self. Moreover, the paper argues that the sense of the self and the boundaries of the body also extend to the social function of the female body.

Body, Carter, Fragmentation, Identity