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Abstract
The work of Ian McEwan is immensely relevant to the problematics of masculinity. The ambivalent quality of his fiction, which was first denounced as being misogynist and later acknowledged as being feminist, points to the challenging nature of his work with regard to gender issues. This transformation is, in fact, the effect of an obsessional, steady sketching and re-sketching of masculinities that have appeared as "resultants" of man-woman and child-parents relationships in his novels. This contribution deals with the portrayal of masculinity in a post-patriarchal era and the significant way it is inextricably intertwined with the recurrent motif of death in McEwan's work. Demonstrating the emergence of a new socio-cultural era in regard to gender identities, this article proposes a new term for the post patriarchal world (of his fiction), that is "filiarchy" - as distinct from its socioeconomic meaning. This term is meant to stand for the way modern men position themselves in relation to each other and to women.
Gender issues and relationships between the sexes have been of great significance in the context of Ian McEwan's fiction.1 His novels, especially the first four, depict a post patriarchal condition in which the concepts of gender identity, and therefore traditional gender roles, are greatly challenged. There is an agreement that McEwan's work has undergone a process of maturation and sophistication, which is also evident in the representation of gender identity in his fiction.2 This process of maturation is especially recognizable in his first four novels, which reflect an obsession with sketching and re-sketching of gender identities, especially masculinities. What this process of maturation and evolution suggests is a passage from patriarchy to a new condition.
As patriarchy has been challenged and questioned for at least a century by feminists, it is justifiable if we expect to see the outcome of feminist struggle in our time. If we believe that a limited patriarchal vision and its fixed and inflexible gender roles are still prevalent, we would have to admit that whatever has been done to remove sexual discrimination and injustice has been futile. However, we know that this is not true and changes that have taken place in gender relations in society are too prominent to be ignored. On the other hand, given...