Figuring the Woman Author in Contemporary Fiction

von

If the author is ‚dead‘, if feminism is ‚post-‚, why does the figure of the woman author keep appearing as a central character in contemporary fiction? She is concerned with ownership but, equally, with loss; determined to enter the cultural field but also rejecting that field; looking for control but subject to duplicity; seeking power alongside desire. Drawing on a diverse range of contemporary authors – including Atwood, Byatt, Brookner, Coetzee, Lurie, LeGuin, Michèle Roberts, Shields, Spark, Weldon, Walker – this study explores the complexity and continuing fascination of this figure.