Between Patriarchy And Madness: Forging Female Visibility In Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: Memories Of Girlhood Among Ghosts (1976)

Abstract

Throughout history, the pervasive representations of female ―madness‖ in literature have always conveyed the impression that females are fragile creatures that require control. Such accusations are manipulated in a way to silence and marginalize them. As a reaction to this distorted image, some contemporary female writers utilize this concept as a strategy to defy the male-defined roles. Maxine Hong Kingston‘s The Woman Warrior: Memories of Girlhood among Ghosts (1976) is the best example to illustrate this issue. Through the lenses of psychoanalytical feminism, this article seeks to explore the various portrayals of madness in the aforementioned novel and how it is used as an instrument of resistance against cultural and social norms. The study will also come to the conclusion that madness is not a female malady; rather, it is an abnormal behavior that might affect both genders and requires clinical intervention