FEMINIST SYNTACTIC DEVIATION IN BERNARDINE EVARISTO’S GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER: A SYNTAX AND GRAMMAR ANALYSIS

Abstract

The language is critical in the construction of the gendered identities as well as ideological representations in the literary discourses. Feminist linguistics has also brought to the fore the fact that the structures of language can uphold and also undermine patriarchal ideals entrenched in language. This paper focuses on syntactic deviation as feminist in Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo by analyzing the syntax and grammar. It is also well known that the novel has an experimental narration that is not based on the typical grammatical forms, but uses new syntactic forms. This research aims to focus on exploring how Evaristo intentionally plays with the structure of the sentences, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar rules to create feminist interpretations and reflect different voices of women. The qualitative textual analysis based on the feminist stylistics and linguistic stylistics will be used in the analysis of the selected passages of the novel to determine the cases of syntactic deviation and grammatical innovation. The fact that no traditional punctuations are present, the presence of long structure in sentences, the formatting of prose in the style of poems, and the syntactic structure fragmentation are paid specific attention. These language techniques are explored concerning feminist language, and the portrayal of identity in the story. These results flee to the idea that Evaristo syntactic experimentation as a stylistic and ideological device breaks the conventional notions of the narratives and preempts the voices of the marginalized people. With a rebellious attitude to strict grammatical rules, the novel creates a dynamic narrative structure that reacts to intersectional experiences of gender, race, and identity. The paper has added to feminist linguistic literature in showing how syntactic deviation can be such a potent means of feminist expression and narrative novelty in the modern literature.