Writing Beyond the Edges

The aim of this book is to investigate and analyse the transgression and blurring of genre boundaries and its connection with the emancipation of the female subject on the level of the narrative in Angela Carter's last two novels, Nights at the Circus and Wise Children, in the light of parodic intertextuality theory. The sort of oppression the narrators/protagonists Fevvers and Dora Chance as well as the other female characters undergo in both novels turn out to be intrinsically related to the ideological and formal constraints traditionally imposed on genres by patriarchy. These are precisely the norms and regulations Angela Carter sets out to unveil, question and undermine so as to pave the way for new alternatives as well as different future possibilities for men and women alike. The main contribution of this book lies in its attempt to relate genre, gender and social change in order to nourish further research on the political power underlying postmodern female rewriting or 'reinvention' and blurring of genres.