REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN THE LITERARY AND MEDICAL DISCOURSE OF THE U.S. PROSE
REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN THE LITERARY AND MEDICAL DISCOURSE OF THE U.S. PROSE

Summary/Abstract: Problem statement. Representations of a literary image reflect the society’s ideas and attitudes toward their real-life prototypes at a specific period. In particular, the features of representing the female images constitute an essential means for understating the national literature. The present paper focuses on the literary depiction of women in the literary and medical discourse of the U.S. prose. The aim of the research is to develop the typology of women’s representations in the U.S. literary works, focused on medical problems and themes. The material of the research is the body of prose works by the American writers over the period from the late 19th century until the early 21st century. The research methodology is based on the application of modern literary studies in the fields of narratology, receptive aesthetics and feminist literary criticism. Presentation of the research material. In the course of the study, we found that female images within the framework of the analyzed material fall into several distinct categories. We examined the role of women as physicians, as nurses, and as patients. The theoretical significance of the research consists in the disclosure of women’s representations in the American literary and medical discourse in the diachronic focus.

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