The Gendered Politics of Postmodern Parody in Acker’s Great Expectations

Abstract

This paper critically explores the gendered politics of Kathy Acker’s use of postmodern parody in her novel Great Expectations (1982). By using the textual codes and paradigms of postmodern parody, as theorized by Linda Hutcheon, Acker seeks to initiate a parodic appropriation of the Dickensian text in order to interrogate the culturally privileged gender norms encoded in this male text. Acker’s parodic rewriting of Dickens’ Great Expectations (1862) is really one of textual appropriation as it seeks to re-write the male text from a totally different, notably gendered, perspective. The aim of such an appropriation is to create a textual space to negotiate issues of gender and female agency. Acker seeks to challenge culturally established canonical narratives of male dominance. She does this by creating feminist counter narratives that bring to the fore issues of gender identity and difference.