Heteronormativity or Nomadology are not Angel-like

New Brontë-related research:

A Norm Critical Approach to Teaching Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre: Exploring Gender, Heteronormativity & Ableism 
Maria Fanourgakis
Magister Degree Project
Stockholm University, 2019

A growing concern in educational institutions is the lack of a unified collegial effort to address issues pertaining to discrimination. The Swedish National Agency of Education (SNAE) has released several reports and articles this past decade (2009, 2010, 2016), in which no significant improvement has been observed in schools with regard to discrimination pertaining to race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability. An important finding illustrated in all reports is that norms are the cardinal reason behind all discriminating conduct. Consequently, to address this problem, SNAE suggests that a norm-critical perspective should be implemented in order to hamper and change such behaviours A core problem, however, is that not all syllabi provide specific examples of how teachers can work with norms in the classroom. Significantly, however, literature has shown to be a valuable gateway to norm-criticism as it provides students with the opportunity to critically assess problems presented in novels with a certain detachment; promoting a more objective attitude and thus a deeper understanding of their own real-life situations. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to provide English teachers with a more concrete point of departure in the discussion of norms by the use of literature, namely Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre (1847). More specifically, this essay critically examines the notions of heteronormativity, gender and ableism to illustrate how hetero-norms, gender-norms and disability-norms are both subverted and challenged in Jane Eyre, often in unexpected ways. The concepts of the ‘male gaze’ and the ‘Other’ are introduced, to demonstrate how this novel may be approached norm-critically in the ambition to avert discriminatory behaviour. To exemplify how the reading of each concept may have positive implications in teaching, I demonstrate how a fusion of
norm-critical pedagogy, critical literacy pedagogy and reader-response theory can be fruitful to foster critical thinking. 

Mobility as a Revolt: Nomadology in Jane Eyre
by Padam Pandey
Devkota Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, July 2019, Vol. 2

This paper seeks to study the rejection of stability that Charlotte Brontë demonstrates in
Jane Eyre. In the light of nomadism and feminism, it tries to show Jane Eyre, a nomad, as a revolutionary character who, through her mobility, challenges the patriarchal values, thereby challenging the whole patriarchal social system. Overpassing the patriarchal limitations and rejecting the imposed social construction of woman, Jane proves herself as a feminist. Since the women of the Victorian period experience only the confinements and restrictions, free mobility was denied, and their world was narrowed down to domestic sphere. Besides, women, in general, have been termed as fragile, submissive, passive, nurturing, emotional and inferior. In such social context of Victorian period, Jane Eyre appears as a rebel. She refuses to be confined within patriarchal boundary, and also denies being a typical Victorian woman. She answers the social stability through her nomadity. By doing so, she protects herself from being socially constructed.

I Am No Angel. Struggles of Identity in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights
Ulriksen, Cecilia
Master Thesis
The Artic University of Norway

This thesis explores the pressure of identity applied on the two female main characters in Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre respectively. It argues that Gender norms, societal expectations and pressure from loved ones try to exert power over Charlotte's and Emily's characters Jane and Catherine, with focus on concepts like lived versus performed identity and the Lord/bondsman dynamic. I explore how Jane is able to preserve her identity through control of the narrative and support of like minded around her, whereas Catherine cannot establish either control or companionship with anyone close to her. As such, Catherine's identity splinters while Jane is given a fulfilling end.