A Kristevan reading of Alma Alexander's The Secrets of Jin-Shei

• Main Author: Consing, Carissa Anne R.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2007
• Subjects: Women > Societies and clubs > Fiction; Female friendship > Fiction; Women > China > Fiction; Comparative Literature
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/2269
• Institution: De La Salle University

Alma Alexander, in her novel The Secrets of Jin-Shei, introduces readers to a mythical world called Syai, a land similar to China. This kingdom is unique because of the presence of two separate systems of writing: the first, hacha-ashu, is the common script and is usually known to men. The second, jin-ashu, is the script known only to women, and it is thought the knowledge of this that the concept of jin-shei is realized. Jin-shei refers to a sisterhood of two or more women unrelated by blood, wherein they become bound to each other for the rest of their lives. Using Julia Kristeva's theory of marginality and subversion, this study seeks to examine the plights of the novel's female main characters. The power relations between men and women within will be considered, and will be used to detect how the women are marginalized. Also of importance is the extent of the power wielded by women as well as the results of this power. Finally, the study aims to answer the question about whether or not the female main characters are able to subvert the novel's Symbolic Order, and if subversion is achieved, what specific mode is used to achieve it.