Technoscience vs. Teknon-Science: The Tragedy Of The Female Scientist In Cynthia Ozick’s Puttermesser And Xanthippe
This paper aims to explore from a technofeminist standpoint this failure to enunciate a ‘feminine’ technoscientific praxis in the Puttermesser and Xanthippe episode of Cynthia Ozick’s 1997 ‘serial’ novel The Puttermesser Papers. In particular, there is a tragic failure to integrate procreative ethos...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Latvia Press
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Baltic Journal of English Language, Literature and Culture |
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| Online Access: | https://journal.lu.lv/bjellc/article/view/103 |
| _version_ | 1811292840060256256 |
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| author | Christina Dokou |
| author_facet | Christina Dokou |
| author_sort | Christina Dokou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper aims to explore from a technofeminist standpoint this failure to enunciate a ‘feminine’ technoscientific praxis in the Puttermesser and Xanthippe episode of Cynthia Ozick’s 1997 ‘serial’ novel The Puttermesser Papers. In particular, there is a tragic failure to integrate procreative ethos and creative technoscience: when the latter is placed in the service of the former, the curse of Frankenstein rears its ugly head, and catastrophe ensues. The female scientist, a Jewish polymath like Ruth Puttermesser who creates a female golem to save New York, in releasing procreativity from the necessity of heterosexual reproduction, unwittingly unleashes a plague of ‘hyperfemininity’ that threatens to destroy culture. Thus, the break from the biological restraints of procreation and the establishment of a utopian femarche (female rule) are deconstructed, parodied, and retrospectively opposed as destructive, while the figure of the female savant / scientist emerges as a tragic one, torn between the need to nurture, and the catastrophic consequences of that need.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:51:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7c68861fc983435ba09bf00e93a120c1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1691-9971 2501-0395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:51:42Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | University of Latvia Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Baltic Journal of English Language, Literature and Culture |
| spelling | doaj.art-7c68861fc983435ba09bf00e93a120c12022-12-22T03:01:39ZengUniversity of Latvia PressBaltic Journal of English Language, Literature and Culture1691-99712501-03952022-07-011210.22364/BJELLC.12.2022.02Technoscience vs. Teknon-Science: The Tragedy Of The Female Scientist In Cynthia Ozick’s Puttermesser And XanthippeChristina Dokou0The National and Kapodistrian University of AthensThis paper aims to explore from a technofeminist standpoint this failure to enunciate a ‘feminine’ technoscientific praxis in the Puttermesser and Xanthippe episode of Cynthia Ozick’s 1997 ‘serial’ novel The Puttermesser Papers. In particular, there is a tragic failure to integrate procreative ethos and creative technoscience: when the latter is placed in the service of the former, the curse of Frankenstein rears its ugly head, and catastrophe ensues. The female scientist, a Jewish polymath like Ruth Puttermesser who creates a female golem to save New York, in releasing procreativity from the necessity of heterosexual reproduction, unwittingly unleashes a plague of ‘hyperfemininity’ that threatens to destroy culture. Thus, the break from the biological restraints of procreation and the establishment of a utopian femarche (female rule) are deconstructed, parodied, and retrospectively opposed as destructive, while the figure of the female savant / scientist emerges as a tragic one, torn between the need to nurture, and the catastrophic consequences of that need. https://journal.lu.lv/bjellc/article/view/103Cynthia OzicktechnosciencetechnofeminismPuttermesser and Xanthippechildbirth metaphorfemale scientist as procreator |
| spellingShingle | Christina Dokou Technoscience vs. Teknon-Science: The Tragedy Of The Female Scientist In Cynthia Ozick’s Puttermesser And Xanthippe Baltic Journal of English Language, Literature and Culture Cynthia Ozick technoscience technofeminism Puttermesser and Xanthippe childbirth metaphor female scientist as procreator |
| title | Technoscience vs. Teknon-Science: The Tragedy Of The Female Scientist In Cynthia Ozick’s Puttermesser And Xanthippe |
| title_full | Technoscience vs. Teknon-Science: The Tragedy Of The Female Scientist In Cynthia Ozick’s Puttermesser And Xanthippe |
| title_fullStr | Technoscience vs. Teknon-Science: The Tragedy Of The Female Scientist In Cynthia Ozick’s Puttermesser And Xanthippe |
| title_full_unstemmed | Technoscience vs. Teknon-Science: The Tragedy Of The Female Scientist In Cynthia Ozick’s Puttermesser And Xanthippe |
| title_short | Technoscience vs. Teknon-Science: The Tragedy Of The Female Scientist In Cynthia Ozick’s Puttermesser And Xanthippe |
| title_sort | technoscience vs teknon science the tragedy of the female scientist in cynthia ozick s puttermesser and xanthippe |
| topic | Cynthia Ozick technoscience technofeminism Puttermesser and Xanthippe childbirth metaphor female scientist as procreator |
| url | https://journal.lu.lv/bjellc/article/view/103 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christinadokou technosciencevsteknonsciencethetragedyofthefemalescientistincynthiaozicksputtermesserandxanthippe |