Browsing by Author "Hirvi, Kaisa"

In my thesis, I discuss Shelley Parker-Chan’s fantasy novel She Who Became the Sun (2021), focusing on how the novel interrogates, deconstructs and re-shapes conventional fantasy patterns related to gender and sexuality, morality, power, and heroism. I illustrate the novel as a postmodern commentary that critically examines and deconstructs these conventional fantasy patterns, re-shaping them to be more inclusive. Through re-shaping conventionally marginalizing genre patterns into ones that are open to diverse experiences, especially those that have often been marginalized and othered within the patterns of fantasy, the novel carves out space for further inclusivity in the genre. In addition to the contextual framework of postmodernism, I use gender and fantasy studies in my discussion of the novel. Fantasy’s conventional manner of portraying gender and sexuality is interrogated and transformed through the storylines of the novel’s two queer protagonists, Zhu and Ouyang, whose experiences break conventional fantasy reliance on gender binarism and heteronormativity. The two protagonists’ experiences of living under extremely rigid binary gender norms as people who face trouble from being unable to fully conform to them critically comments on the oppressive, marginalizing effects of these kinds of gender norms, interrogating fantasy’s conventional reliance on them. Conventional gender norms are also deconstructed in the novel as the protagonists’ experiences shed light on its constructed and performative nature. Moreover, the novel re-shapes the binary gender norm as Zhu ultimately discovers her own identity beyond the binary after unlearning the rigid binary norm that represses her for most of the novel, a plot development that calls for more space in fantasy for the portrayal of genderqueer experiences. Additionally, the novel’s portrayal of two queer protagonists does work of normalizing queer sexualities in fantasy, challenging the dominant pattern of heteronormativity. The novel’s portrayal of Zhu’s quest storyline interrogates and alters conventional fantasy quest patterns, with the result that marginalizing patterns are re-shaped to more inclusive forms. The framing of Zhu’s quest as her individual, self-serving journey subverts the significance of the traditional quest and undermines its tone of black-and-white morality, forming the postmodern, subversive foundation of Zhu’s quest. Zhu’s actions of questioning and overthrowing the fantasy world’s established power structures critically comment on the conventional quest’s reliance on patterns that renew stereotypical power dynamics between marginalized and non-marginalized characters. As Zhu gains power for herself as a marginalized character and intends to use it for change instead of for upholding fixed power structures, the conventional form of quest power is transformed to a pattern that empowers the kinds of characters that are often excluded from quest power. Furthermore, Zhu’s quest journey interrogates the traditional quest hero role, illustrating the marginalizing link between heroism and maleness. As Zhu emerges as her own kind of, non-normative queer hero at the novel’s end, narrow quest heroism transforms into a concept that embraces conventionally marginalized characters.