An intertextual analysis of the novel Girl Meets Boy and the use of feminist and queer theory by Ali Smith in her reception of the tale of Iphis from Ovid's Metamorphoses (9.666-797)

Ranger, Holly Anne (2013). An intertextual analysis of the novel Girl Meets Boy and the use of feminist and queer theory by Ali Smith in her reception of the tale of Iphis from Ovid's Metamorphoses (9.666-797). University of Birmingham. M.Phil.

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Abstract

In this thesis I discuss Ali Smith’s reworking of Ovid’s tale of the girl-boy Iphis from his Metamorphoses (9.666-797) in her 2006 novel Girl meets boy. I examine how Smith has brought Ovid to life for twenty-first century readers, first through an exploration of feminist and queer critical readings of Ovid and the influence of those theories on Smith’s method of classical reception, and secondly through an analysis of intertextual references. My matrix of interpretation draws upon the theories and experimental writing of Julia Kristeva, Monique Wittig and Judith Butler, alongside an examination of intertextual allusions to Ovid himself, Virginia Woolf, John Lyly and William Shakespeare. I argue that Ovid readily lends himself to feminist readings of his work, and that by combining critical theory and creative writing, Smith establishes a new and liberating queer feminist model for classical reception.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.Phil.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.Phil.

Supervisor(s):