Modalities of Women’s Time in Novels by Nella Larsen, Joan Didion and Jennifer Egan

Abstract

This thesis explores modalities of time in Nella Larsen’s Passing (1929), Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays (1970) and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad (2011). It examines how temporality is thematised in story and narrative form. The central claim is that the female characters operate within patriarchal temporal regimes that place demands on how women order their time in the present and limit what kind of future they can attain – or imagine. The thesis surveys what women must sacrifice and/or repress to operate within the dominant temporal order. The thesis focuses on the temporal paths available to the female characters, and their opportunities for self-determination. It highlights the persistent view of marriage and motherhood as the temporal destinies of women. Central to the analysis presented is Julia Kristeva’s conception of a cyclical women’s time and Elizabeth Freeman’s notion of chrononormativity. The thesis employs Gérard Genette’s structural theory of narrative to analyse the crafting of time in the three novels.

This thesis explores modalities of time in Nella Larsen’s Passing (1929), Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays (1970) and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad (2011). It examines how temporality is thematised in story and narrative form. The central claim is that the female characters operate within patriarchal temporal regimes that place demands on how women order their time in the present and limit what kind of future they can attain – or imagine. The thesis surveys what women must sacrifice and/or repress to operate within the dominant temporal order. The thesis focuses on the temporal paths available to the female characters, and their opportunities for self-determination. It highlights the persistent view of marriage and motherhood as the temporal destinies of women. Central to the analysis presented is Julia Kristeva’s conception of a cyclical women’s time and Elizabeth Freeman’s notion of chrononormativity. The thesis employs Gérard Genette’s structural theory of narrative to analyse the crafting of time in the three novels.