The Politics of Female Bodies: Narratives of Gender and Power in Trees without Wind by Li Rui and A Piece of Land with Many People and Ghosts by Nguyen Khac Truong

Abstract

Based on feminist theory, this article compares two literary works published in the 1990s in Vietnam and China: Trees without Wind by Li Rui and A Piece of Land with Many People and Ghosts by Nguyen Khac Truong. It focuses on identifying the connection between gender and power, how the male gaze perceives the female body, and expressions of submission and resistance of women in the context of Eastern patriarchal society in the 1990s. Through a deep reading method, the article analyzes the nature of patriarchy and the presence of gender power in the two novels, thereby critiquing the social system dominated by men and breaking gender biases in literary discourse created by men. This article also contributes to scholarly research on feminist theory in the world.

Keywords

• Female body
• gender politics
• feminist theory
• Li Rui
• Nguyen Khac Truong
• 女性身体