Reconstructing identities amidst spatial transgression in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847)

This study explores Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847), a novel thoroughly examined through feminist, trauma, narratological, and psychoanalytic perspectives, especially concerning its enigmatic character, Heathcliff. However, the theme of spatial transgression as a crucial narrative element ha...

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Main Authors: Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur, Zhixing, Nie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Putra Malaysia 2025
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119600/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119600/1/119600.pdf
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author Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur
Zhixing, Nie
author_facet Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur
Zhixing, Nie
author_sort Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This study explores Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847), a novel thoroughly examined through feminist, trauma, narratological, and psychoanalytic perspectives, especially concerning its enigmatic character, Heathcliff. However, the theme of spatial transgression as a crucial narrative element has received less attention. Applying Deleuze and Guattari’s notions of “striated space” and “smooth space” from A Thousand Plateaus (1980), this paper investigates the spatial dynamics within Wuthering Heights. It uncovers how the restrictive environments of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange and patriarchal and religious constraints confine Catherine and Heathcliff within “striated space.” Brontë contrasts detention and freedom, confinement and mobility, and oppression and liberation to highlight this binary opposition. This study reveals the complex interplay between “striated space” and “smooth space”, and their significant impact on Catherine and Heathcliff’s identities. It particularly examines how themes of “flight,” “nomadism,” and “becoming” are woven into the narrative, illustrating the characters’ struggles with identity crises and their processes of identity reconstruction.
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spelling upm-1196002025-08-29T00:12:19Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119600/ Reconstructing identities amidst spatial transgression in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847) Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur Zhixing, Nie This study explores Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847), a novel thoroughly examined through feminist, trauma, narratological, and psychoanalytic perspectives, especially concerning its enigmatic character, Heathcliff. However, the theme of spatial transgression as a crucial narrative element has received less attention. Applying Deleuze and Guattari’s notions of “striated space” and “smooth space” from A Thousand Plateaus (1980), this paper investigates the spatial dynamics within Wuthering Heights. It uncovers how the restrictive environments of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange and patriarchal and religious constraints confine Catherine and Heathcliff within “striated space.” Brontë contrasts detention and freedom, confinement and mobility, and oppression and liberation to highlight this binary opposition. This study reveals the complex interplay between “striated space” and “smooth space”, and their significant impact on Catherine and Heathcliff’s identities. It particularly examines how themes of “flight,” “nomadism,” and “becoming” are woven into the narrative, illustrating the characters’ struggles with identity crises and their processes of identity reconstruction. Universiti Putra Malaysia 2025-08-23 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119600/1/119600.pdf Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur and Zhixing, Nie (2025) Reconstructing identities amidst spatial transgression in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847). Journal of Language and Communication, 12 (1). pp. 89-102. ISSN 2637-0875 https://jlc-fbmk.upm.edu.my/regular-issues/vol-12-no-1-march-2025/jlc-05-march2025 10.47836/jlc.12.01.05
spellingShingle Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur
Zhixing, Nie
Reconstructing identities amidst spatial transgression in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847)
title Reconstructing identities amidst spatial transgression in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847)
title_full Reconstructing identities amidst spatial transgression in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847)
title_fullStr Reconstructing identities amidst spatial transgression in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847)
title_full_unstemmed Reconstructing identities amidst spatial transgression in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847)
title_short Reconstructing identities amidst spatial transgression in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847)
title_sort reconstructing identities amidst spatial transgression in emily brontë’s wuthering heights (1847)
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119600/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119600/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119600/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119600/1/119600.pdf