Dual Discursive Authority and Construction of Female Subjectivity in Bai Fengxi’s "The Women Trilogy"
Abstract
Contemporary gender perspectives in theater study primarily focus on macro-level gender issues through socio-cultural lenses or interpret drama via gender-focused literary theories. While both approaches have advanced the field, the former overlooks the micro-level of narrative—the foundation for expressing gender ideology—and the latter inadequately addresses the inherent theatricality of drama texts. To examine the relationship between dramatic narrative and gender ideology, this study utilizes Bai Fengxi’s Chinese New Period classic, The Women Trilogy, as a representative case. The study investigates how the female playwright negotiates narrative authority and constructs female subjectivity through narrative practices. Building upon feminist narratology, this research adapts and extends traditional narratological concepts to theatrical elements. The analysis reveals that discursive authority within the trilogy manifests as a dual structure comprising positional authority, stemming from socio-structural identities and familial ethical hierarchies, and epistemic authority, derived from individual experiences and cognition. Although women’s positional authority is restricted within patriarchal structures, epistemic authority enables women’s silence to function as a theatrical action of resistance, transforming personal dilemmas into collective political expression. Female subjectivity is constructed through the negotiation of these two authorities. At the theoretical level, the study expands the boundaries of feminist narratology by applying it to dramatic texts. By drawing upon the theory’s capacity to simultaneously encompass narrative forms and ideological dimensions, this research also provides a novel perspective for the gender and political research of drama, moving beyond prevalent macro-level socio-cultural and purely literary approaches.
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