A Recodification of Gender through the Figure of the Dystopian Heroine: Analysis of Divergent (2014)

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Rocío Riestra-Camacho

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze through poststructuralism to what extent the film Divergent (2014) deconstructs gender binarisms through the agentic representation of its heroine, Beatrice Prior. This analysis contends that it is necessary to distinguish between two levels of gender analysis. On the one hand, conducting a spatial analysis of the socalled ‘Factions’ in the film can lead to an over simplistic identification of gender stereotypes in them. A gender analysis conducted on an identitarian basis, on the other, helps to complexify such panorama. At this level of analysis, the heroine’s comportment and characteristics can be understood as human traits, canceling a dialectic understanding of them as either masculine or feminine. The resulting agentic characterization aids audiences to identify with the protagonist as a heroine, though not to a feminist reading of the film.

Article Details

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Literatura

How to Cite

A Recodification of Gender through the Figure of the Dystopian Heroine: Analysis of Divergent (2014). (2018). VERBEIA. Revista De Estudios Filológicos. Journal of English and Spanish Studies, 4(3), 118-131. https://doi.org/10.57087/Verbeia.2018.4228

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