An Interpretation of Willa Cather's Deconstruction of Binarisms in the Perspective of Ecofeminism-Taking O' Pioneers ! & My Antonia as Examples

This thesis analyses the interrelationship of the triad man, woman and nature in Willa Cather's early novels O' Pioneers ! (1913) and My Antonia (1918). The thesis discusses the blurring elements in the novels which aim to deconstruct and to denaturalize received notions and binarisms. Through fantastic characters and events, the novels show that what is forbidden and repressed results from the working of power and discourse. The vast west is the embodiment of a carnivalesque world in which things are turned upside down and conventional conceptions are challenged. Characters and events that happen in this great frontier western land work are expected to reveal the constructedness of norms in society. Gender binarism is deconstructed with application of theory about gender performativity, so as to nature and culture. Irigaray's masquerade is applied so as to deconstruct the notion that gender is formed out of power relations. In this carnivalesque world, not only the gender binarism but also the one between nature and culture has been turned upside down. Women are prior to men because of her closeness to the non-human environment. In conclusion, by interpreting the novels, the thesis aims to show the constructed nature of binarism and to introduce different perspectives.