STRUCTURAL FEMINISM IN THREE 21ST CENTURY NOVELS IN ENGLISH

Using A. J. Greimas‘ Actantial and Functional Model, the study examined the structure of narratives in three 21st century novels written in English: Banana Heart Summer (Merlinda Bobis, 2005), The Penelopiad (Margaret Atwood, 2005), and Malinche (Laura Equivel, 2006). The study also analyzed how women try to discover their individuality, both in accord and in disagreement with the prevailing ideology in their contemporary society. These novels were all written by women writers about women representing the dominant ideology and the muted ideology of their time. The study reveals that these three 21st century novels used Domination versus Submission as the common main function. The main characters of the three novels turn against social system fixed in the family and society. Although, some parts of the novel Malinche has Mandating versus Acceptance as function, the main narrative grammatology used are Confrontation, Domination versus Submission and Attribution versus Deprivation. From the three functions the three 21st century novels used the distinct structure, Performance Structure/Syntagm. The three 21st century novels are epitome of women‘s culture which narrates the grave experiences of women and their social pressure to live into the four walls of a house which is completely true for most women even today. All the female protagonists with long journey of struggle and oppression come out as individuals and find out their space and place in society.