Redefining Gender Identity in Kathy Acker’s Empire of the Senseless

Abstract

This thesis analyzes gender identity in Kathy Acker's Empire of the Senseless in the light of gender performativity. Acker through the central characters in the novel tries to redefine a gender role that has been rooted socially and culturally. Gender identity is the center of the novel and she emphasized her female character voice as a woman to be recognized and wants to deconstruct the social taboos that restrict the woman in a patriarchal society. In Kathy's Empire, she challenged the structural belief of gender ideology and the ways of arranging the power in society according to the social construct. She tries to break the structure of society that is designed to differentiate the gender ideology for male and female. To examine the gender role in this thesis, this thesis has used the theoretical lens of Judith Butler's concepts of gender performativity. Abhor, the novel's protagonist transgresses the constructed gender identity for females through fragmented gender role. Acker tries to show the point of departure from the conventional concept of gender ideology. The significance of the study is to explore the real meaning of gender roles. The traditional way of dealing with gender roles as the biological concept of gender is opposed by creating a constructed 'human-made women. ' Hence this thesis tries to dig out how the conventional notion of gender identity and sexual fragmentation altered in the novel.