Als je een boekenwinkel binnenwandelt, valt het je misschien op dat tussen de Engelse romans steeds meer vrouwelijke auteurs staan. Namen als Sally Rooney en Ottessa Moshfegh zijn niet weg te denken uit de hedendaagse Engelstalige fictie. Aangezien het literaire veld al decennialang overwegend mannelijk is, lijkt dit een feministische overwinning. Een betere kijk naar de kritische ontvangst van deze boeken toont echter dat schijn bedriegt.
Een oplettend oog merkt op dat deze wisseling van de wacht voornamelijk plaatsvindt binnen één genre: de millennial fiction. Dit is een nieuw subgenre binnen de literaire fictie. De term verscheen een vijftal jaar geleden in tijdschriftartikels en verwijst naar boeken die voldoen aan twee criteria: de auteurs zijn millennials – dus geboren tussen 1981 en 1996 – en de romans bevatten een radeloos, onrustig hoofdpersonage. Opmerkelijk is dat zowel de schrijvers als de protagonisten van de boeken overwegend vrouwen zijn. Rooney en Moshfegh worden bestempeld als dé millennial auteurs en geprezen om hun herkenbare weergave van de hedendaagse tijdsgeest. Ondanks hun populariteit bij het lezerspubliek, vindt de millennial fiction geen academische weerklank. Ook de kritische receptie is niet lovend. Hoe komt dit?
Opboksen tegen normen
De kritiek duikt op omdat de millennial romans zich verzetten tegen zowel maatschappelijke als literaire normen. De boeken focussen via hun vrouwelijke protagonisten op de vrouwelijke ervaring. Hierbij worden taboeonderwerpen over vrouwelijkheid aangesneden, zoals seksualiteit en verlangen, rouw en woede, en seksueel geweld. Door deze onderbelichte thema’s te representeren bouwen de romans mee aan een nieuwe definitie van vrouwelijkheid. De normatieve invulling breidt uit, en zo’n uitdaging van de norm stoot vaak op verzet. De complexiteit van de hoofdpersonages wordt niet erkend door critici: ze vinden de protagonisten onsympathiek en labelen hun als unlikable women.
Daarnaast heroverwegen de romans hoe actie en plot worden begrepen in de literatuur. Bekende, gecanoniseerde romans zijn meestal geschreven door mannen en vertrekken voornamelijk van een mannelijk perspectief. Denk aan Joyce’s Ulysses, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby en Melville’s Moby-Dick. In die boeken staan autoriteit en actie centraal. Dit staat in contrast met de millennial romans met vrouwelijke hoofdpersonages. Vrouwen hebben minder sociale macht en kunnen minder controle uitoefenen over hun autoriteit, wat actie ondernemen moeilijker maakt. Critici zien vaak niet in dat deze hoofdpersonages tegen meer onderdrukkingssystemen opboksen dan hun mannelijke tegenhangers. Hierdoor menen ze dat de personages onverantwoord passief zijn en een nihilistisch houding uitstralen. Sommigen beweren zelfs dat de representaties hierdoor schade brengen aan de feministische beweging.
De kracht van passieve, “onsympathieke” personages
Bij het lezen en analyseren van de romans wordt duidelijk dat de boeken geen gevaar vormen voor de vrouwenbeweging en dat de personages helemaal niet onverantwoord passief zijn. Het eerste is duidelijk door de bespreking van de taboeonderwerpen. De literaire representaties maken meer onderbelichte vormen en ervaringen van vrouwelijkheid bespreekbaar, iets waar de feministische beweging baat aan heeft.
De veronderstelling van passiviteit stroomt voort uit de problemen waar critici op stootten bij de definiëring van millennial fiction. Inhoudelijk zijn de romans zeer divers, wat de nieuwe invulling die de hoofdpersonages aan actie geven een van de weinige gemeenschappelijke kenmerken binnen het genre maakt. Hierop focussen critici, en het label “passief” wordt op elk millennial boek en hun protagonisten geplakt. Wanneer de boeken niet als homogene massa maar individueel worden benaderd, wordt echter duidelijk dat er meer achter de passiviteit van de vrouwen schuilt.
Aan de oppervlakte lijken de hoofdpersonages van Rooney’s Conversations with Friends (Frances) en Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation (een naamloze verteller) misschien passief: Frances laat haar leven schijnbaar bepalen door de mensen rondom haar en de naamloze verteller probeert zichzelf in een kunstmatig veroorzaakte coma te brengen met slaappillen. De romans tonen echter ook de oorzaken van dit gedrag.
Frances worstelt met onzekerheden veroorzaakt door haar gewelddadige vader en precaire economische positie, waardoor ze zich machteloos voelt. Doorheen de roman wordt duidelijk dat ze onderschat hoeveel invloed ze heeft op anderen en dat ze juist wel controle heeft over veel van haar relaties.
Voor de naamloze verteller, die ontredderd is door de plotse dood van haar ouders, is de realisatie dat de kunstsector even kapitalistisch is ingesteld als Wall Street de doodslag voor haar levenslust. Van slapen wordt ze wel gelukkig, en ze hoopt dat na haar winterslaap zij – en haar gemoed – als herboren zullen zijn.
Elk boek geeft een duidelijke reden voor de nihilistische kijk van het hoofdpersonage, van de druk van het kapitalisme tot de invloed van een moeilijke relatie met hun ouders die hen tot op volwassen leeftijd achtervolgt. Als ze dan toch passief zijn, dan kiezen ze ervoor. Zo redeneert de naamloze verteller over haar winterslaap: “If you knew what would make you happy, wouldn’t you do it?”
Van universele naar reële ervaringen
De millennial romans trekken de definitie van vrouwelijkheid open. Als dit erkend wordt, gaat dit vaak gepaard met nieuwe kritiek aangezien de populairste werken voornamelijk witte, geprivilegieerde protagonisten bevatten. Volgens critici kunnen zij onmogelijk spreken voor alle vrouwen. Dat klopt, maar de auteurs beweren nooit dat ze daarnaar streven. Noch één enkele roman, noch alle millennial romans samen kunnen de universele vrouwelijke ervaring neerschrijven. Deze beschrijving is dan ook niet het gemeenschappelijke doel; de romans kijken naar bredere machtsstructuren en -dynamieken vanuit een individuele lens.
Universaliteit kunnen enkele romans dus niet omvatten, maar vanuit een specifiek perspectief kaarten de boeken wel algemene hedendaagse problemen aan. Op die manier weerspiegelt de millennial literatuur de maatschappij. Dit geldt ook voor hun representatie van de complexiteit van het vrouw-zijn, inclusief de onsympathieke karaktertrekken en taboeonderwerpen die daarmee gepaard gaan. Het feit dat dit op zoveel kritiek stoot, toont dat deze representaties nodig zijn en genormaliseerd moeten worden.
Deze donkerdere onderwerpen censureren betekent dat de reële vrouwelijke ervaring wordt uitgesloten uit de literatuur en op die manier uit de werkelijkheid wordt geschreven. Want als we zelfs in onze fantasieën beperkingen opleggen aan hoe fictieve vrouwen mogen handelen, zich gedragen en voelen, wat betekent dit dan voor onze visie op wat vrouwen in het echte leven mogen doen?
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