“Feminine Writing” in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Abstract

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a semi-autobiographical novel written by British author Jeanette Winterson. The novel narrates the growth story of Jeanette, a girl who gradually finds her own identity under the religious oppression brought by her mother and the church. This thesis is an analysis of how the author Jeanette embodies feminine writing in the novel. To clarify the definition of feminine writing, this thesis mainly borrows the viewpoint of “feminine writing” put forward by Hélène Cixous, a representative of the Western feminist criticism of the French realm. From the “male writing” represented by the Bible to the contradiction between the protagonist and her mother, the author deconstructs and debunks the binary opposition of male centrism, and then creates an unrestricted feminine discourse. Eventually, the author completely breaks free of the patriarchal and religious oppression and manages to reconstruct her subjective identity. The importance of female self-consciousness is conveyed through feminine writing in the hope that readers can boldly question and resist male authority.