The end of the heroic illusion: how three generations of women writers have changed the literature of Antarctica

Abstract

The author posits three key phases in the development of women’s non-fiction writing about Antarctica: the pre-feminist, feminist and post-masculinist. Representative literature from each phase is examined. The author concludes that women’s relatively recent physical presence in Antarctica has allowed for the creation of a transformative literature which has significantly challenged the dominant masculine narratives that emerged from Antarctica’s heroic age, and firmly established women as literary and political citizens of this once all-male landscape.