Hungarian Studies
Volume/Issue:
Accepted Manuscript / Online First
A European getaway for female monsters
Representations of cultural alienation in the novels of Theodora Goss
Author:
Ádám Tárkányi Institute of Hungarian Language and Literature, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia

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https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3276-4093
Online Publication Date:
07 Mar 2025
Publication Date:
07 Mar 2025
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/044.2024.00271
Keywords:
traditional female role; monstrosity; ethnic stereotypes; alienation; Hungarian cultural realities
Restricted access

Abstract

In my study, I explore representations of otherness and alienation in the Athena Club trilogy by Theodora Goss, a Hungarian-born writer currently living and working in the United States. In the first part of the analysis, I focus on the relationship between female identity and monstrosity. I argue that monstrosity in Goss' novels can be seen in the deconstruction of traditional nineteenth-century female roles. Hence, the female monsters of the Athena Club can be interpreted as a metaphor for self-realization and a representation of otherness. In the second part of the analysis, I will examine the experience of alienation from the perspective of the protagonist (Mary), along the opposition of home and abroad. I will point out that the experience of the new cultural environment, and more specifically the positive experience with Hungarian cultural realities, means the final elimination of the experience of alienation.

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Cover Hungarian Studies
Hungarian Studies A Journal of the International Association for Hungarian Studies and Balassi Institute
Print ISSN:
0236-6568
Online ISSN:
1588-2772

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Editor-in-Chief: Andrea Seidler

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  • Khavanova, Olga
  • de Montety, Henri
  • Áron Orbán

Nemzetközi Magyarságtudományi Társaság
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Scopus

2023  
Scopus  
CiteScore 0.1
CiteScore rank Q4 (General Arts and Humanities)
SNIP 0.03
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SJR index 0.101
SJR Q rank Q4

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Hungarian Studies
Language English
French
German
Size B5
Year of
Foundation		 1985
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 2
Founder Nemzetközi Magyarságtudományi Társaság -- International Association for Hungarian Studies
Founder's
Address		 H-1097 Budapest, Tóth Kálmán u. 4. B.8.41.
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Publisher's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Responsible
Publisher		 Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 0236-6568 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2772 (Online)

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