Abstract

The novel Jinetes de la tormenta, written by Spanish author, Javier Castañeda de la Torre, presents gender as an obstacle to individuals in the ongoing process of self-discovery (as it relates to personal identity) and as the underlying source of human discontent in the technological age. Jinetes represents gender as a hindrance to the developing self through masculine and feminine binaries in European colonial languages and through the performative behavioral expectations tethered to the gendered body the theoretical works of Jacques Lacan and Hélène Cixous. The theoretical works of Jacques Lacan and Hélène Cixous establish the argument surrounding linguistic gender barriers in the novel. Lacan suggests that language produces ontological discontent by alienating individuals from themselves from the outside in as a result of the strict parameters of the dominant, masculine “symbolic order,” (a primary vehicle in the development of the self), whereas Cixous frames the dominant masculine as a place marker for linguistic neutrality that fails to fully capture the essence of human identity as a whole. The theoretical work of Judith Butler establishes the argument surrounding embodied gender barriers in the novel, and posits that the physical expression of biological sex condemns individuals to a limited perception of the self and a strained ability to explore one’s identity. This article suggests that an intentional embrace of technology, specifically communication via artificial intelligence, provides a neutral platform that encourages personal introspection as well as global community, and transcends the constraints of gender by allowing individuals to develop a more genuine sense of self beyond the physical body and the limitations of one’s own linguistic tradition.

Degree

MA

College and Department

Humanities; Spanish and Portuguese

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2024-06-21

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd13279

Keywords

gender identity, artificial intelligence, gendered language, gendered body

Language

english

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