Greek-American Identity in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex : Self-Transformation through the Lens of Ethnicity

Abstract

The thesis “Greek-American Identity in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex, Self-Transformation through the Lens of Ethnicity” examines how three generations of a Greek-American family reinvent their identities in a lengthy process of assimilation and acculturation within modern industrialism. The novel is largely about the metamorphosis of each generation, and I have explored the extent to which the protagonists incorporate their cultural past, in particular their ethnicity, into their new lifestyles and new, hybridized identities. I have examined the impact of ethnicity in the novel in relation to social forces that influence the form and content of ethnicity, as well as through the three institutions that served as the pillars of traditional society and of the ethnic community – the family, the church, and the local community. In my exploration through close reading of the novel, I have relied on theories of ethnicity as well as studies in the fields of anthropology, psychology, sociology and gender identity to support my ideas and arguments. They have also proved useful for tackling the issues of immigration and assimilation as they pertain to modern American society in general. I have incorporated into the thesis the ideas of Milton Gordon, Richard Alba, Werner Sollors, Rey Chow, Ruth Frankenberg, Stephen Steinberg, Miranda Joseph, John Hartigan and Judith Butler. When it comes to sociological studies that helped me better understand the Greek-American identity, I have relied on the research of acclaimed anthropologists and sociologists of Greek-American origin.