Open Collections

Lussier, Jessica

University of British Columbia

While the figure of the femme fatale, the killer woman, and the monstrous-feminine has been studied in contemporary adult fiction and media, an in-depth examination of the young killer superwoman in young adult literature has not been critically discussed. As the nexus of competing discourses on the proper spheres of masculinity and femininity, the young killer superwoman is a transgressive figure with the power to reshape not only her world but our own as well. In my examination of the young killer superwoman over the last fifteen years, I focus on the representation of three representative young women: Katsa from Kristin Cashore’s Graceling (2008), Juliette Ferrars from Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me trilogy (2011-2014), and Wu Zetian from Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow (2021-). Using the lenses of material feminism and posthumanism, I examine the ways in which these three young superwomen transform themselves—and their societies—for the better. In a world divided along binary patriarchal lines, Katsa harnesses her abilities to define her own place in her society—an individual transformation that aligns with the neoliberal leanings of the Girl Power movement. However, in a world that seeks to increasingly demonstrate the ineffectiveness of individual political, environmental, and sociocultural action, the representation of the young killer superwoman offers ways to balance notions of individuality and collectivity. In Shatter Me, Juliette extends Katsa’s individual transformation into a more expansive, collective gesture. With her transformation from a scared, fractured girl who cannot be touched into an untouchable superwoman, Juliette ignites a revolution against her dystopic society. While she, too, falls prey to neoliberal exceptionalism, Juliette nonetheless sets the stage for the most contemporary depiction of a young killer superwoman to date: Zetian in Iron Widow. Zetian’s unapologetic rage, explicit dismantlement of structural inequalities, and collective focus extends the young killer superwoman’s transgressive potential and inspires her readers to think critically about their own societies. As the ultimate transgressor of patriarchal standards and the limits of acceptability, the young killer superwoman creates space for smaller transgressions and redefines violence and power as no longer the sole purview of masculinity.

Text

2023-12-21

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/86987

Children's Literature

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/