Eclectic Revolution: Illusory Femininity and Two-Fold Mimicry in Gertrude Stein’s Three Lives

Abstract

In the present paper we discuss Gertrude Stein’s in-between position in the literary canon by alluding to her eclectic literary revolution. On the one hand, she is excluded from the patriarchal canon due to her disruptive style. On the other, she postulates a milder kind of revolution, in line with Luce Irigaray’s tenets, which implies a conscious reproduction of a constructed “femininity” in women (as opposed to the non-strategic and unconscious imitation of traditional gender roles) that finally unmasks the illusive character of a distinctive feminine identity. In her opinion, everything is a construct of the pervasive patriarchal model, where women reproduce an individuality taylored for them rather than their essential identity that is also ultimately questioned.