Gender, language and nation: female and androgynous selves in Montserrat Roig's last novels

Abstract

This paper focuses on the narrative fiction of Montserrat Roig, one of the most popular contemporary Catalan writers. It looks at the importance of gender, nation and language in the construction of her female characters’ selves, according to Kristeva’s concept of subject in progress. In their quest for self-acceptance and fulfilment, the women of her novels often look back to origins and the maternal legacy as a source for self-creation and identification. In this context, Roig’s conscious choice of Catalan as a literary language configures it as a strong pillar for her characters’ identities: Catalan is not only her mother tongue but a nationality, and it also represents her city, Barcelona. Catalan language and literature, located in this precise geographical place, create the symbolic sphere where her characters try to root themselves.