Representation of women in the literary and medical discourse of the U.S. prose

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to develop a typology of female images in American literary works on medical topics. Research methods: narratological, theory of receptive aesthetics, feminist literary criticism. The object of research is the prose works of American writers of the late XIX - early XXI centuries. Scientific novelty. The article analyzes for the first time the narrative configuration, the author’s artistic intentions and the role of the reader’s reception in the medical literary discourse through the prism of the historical role of women in American society. Conclusions. During the study, it was found that female images within the analyzed material are divided into several categories. We examined the role of a female doctor in the novels “Doctor Zey” (1882) by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, “Under the Glass Dome” (1963) by Sylvia Plath, “Doctors” (1988) Eric Seagal, “Operation Wandering Soul” (1993) by Richard Powers , “Nothing Lasts Forever” (1994) Sidney Sheldon and “Harvest” (1996) Tess Gerritsen. In addition, we found features of the image of women as nurses in the works “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (1922) by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, “Arrowsmith” (1925) Sinclair Lewis, “Johnny Got a Rifle” (1938) Dalton Trumbo, “Snake Pit” (1946) Mary Jane Ward, “Flying Over the Cuckoo's Nest” (1962) Ken Kesey, “MASH: A Novel About Three Army Physicians” (1968) Richard Hooker, “House of God” (1978) Samuel Shem, “Critical Condition” (2002 ) Peter Clement. Finally, we examined the narrative role of patients in the novels “The Snake Pit” (1946) by Mary Jane Ward, “Under the Glass Dome” (1963) by Sylvia Plath, “Interrupted Life” (1993) by Susanne Keysen and “Prozac Nation” (1994) Elizabeth Würzel . The theoretical significance of the study is to reveal the features of the image of women in the American literary and medical discourse in the diachronic aspect