Sixteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

The 1995 publication of Barbara Freeman’s book “The Feminine Sublime: Gender and Excess in Women’s Fiction” revolutionised traditional sublime theory from distinctly masculine spaces to experiences in which women could, and did, participate. One criticism of Freeman’s theory, though, is the diminishment of the feminine sublime subject: in participating with the sublime object, the feminine sublime subject often suffers distinctly negative outcomes, even death. This paper proposes an alternative feminine sublime outcome. It argues that by subverting the sublime/beautiful dichotomy, which for centuries gendered the sublime experience and prevented women from undergoing the sublime, the feminine sublime experience can still occur without the diminishment of the subject. This paper will take its example from Janet Fitch’s 1999 novel “White Oleander,” in which the character of Ingrid moves with ease between sublime/beautiful dichotomies, creating a feminine sublime experience that aligns with Freeman’s core theory, but which does not result in the diminishment or death of the subject. This outcome propels the current discourse of feminine sublime theory, a field which has not been significantly expanded since the publication of Freeman’s work over twenty years ago.