Narrative Agency and Gender Politics in Contemporary English Fiction: A Comparative Study of Margaret Atwood's The Testaments, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah, and Bernardine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other
Keywords:
Narrative Agency, Gender Politics, Feminist Literary Theory, Intersectionality, Women’s Writing, Margaret Atwood, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Bernardine Evaristo, The Testaments, Americanah, Girl, Woman, Other.Abstract
This study examines narrative agency and gender politics in contemporary English fiction through a comparative
analysis of Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, and Bernardine
Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other. The research investigates how women’s voices, identities, experiences, and acts of
resistance are represented within different social, cultural, political, and historical contexts. Drawing on feminist
literary theory, intersectionality, and theories of narrative agency, the study explores how the three novels
challenge patriarchal structures while presenting diverse forms of female self-expression and empowerment.
Atwood’s The Testaments is examined as a dystopian critique of institutionalized gender oppression and the
control of women’s bodies, identities, and voices. Adichie’s Americanah is analyzed through the interconnected
dimensions of gender, race, migration, and cultural identity, highlighting the protagonist’s negotiation of agency
between Nigerian and American social environments. Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other is explored for its polyphonic
narrative structure and its representation of Black British women across generations, emphasizing the intersection
of gender, race, class, sexuality, and age. Through comparative analysis, the study argues that narrative form
itself becomes a significant means of challenging dominant gender ideologies. The multiple perspectives,
fragmented voices, and acts of storytelling in these novels enable marginalized women to reclaim their identities
and contest structures of power. The study ultimately demonstrates that contemporary English fiction increasingly
employs diverse narrative strategies to foreground women’s agency and expose the complex and intersectional
nature of gender politics in modern society.
