Deconstruction of conventional gender and identity through rewriting in Jeanette Winterson's Sexing the Cherry

The purpose of this study is to examine the gender issues in rewriting in Jeanette Winterson's Sexing the Cherry. Rewriting is the act of reexamining, rewording, reconceptualizing the classics with a certain perspective in contemporary world. In literary history, there are a lot of examples for rewriting and the writers all have different purposes in their acts. Political, postcolonial and feminist rewritings are the most popular techniques to be employed by writers. Among these, feminist rewriting with its gender and identity concerns can be taken as the most popular since it deals with both the physicality and the psychology of the self. In general, the inferior position of women in a patriarchal society is criticized in feminist theory. In order to achieve such criticism, rewriters like Winterson use the classics to give a different perspective and place to the women in society. In building up this argument, the concept of rewriting will be explained in detail in the light of the theories of Saussure, Kristeva and Bakhtin. After giving the theoretical background of rewriting, this thesis will specifically focus upon the gender issues in rewriting under the guidance of the feminist theory. Along with the theoretical discussion, Jeanette Winterson's Sexing the Cherry which is the rewritten version of the popular German fairy tale the Twelve Dancing Princesses will be examined in depth.