Abstract

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Keywords:: Meridel Le Sueur; intersectionality; narratorial identity; sisterhood

Abstract:: As an outstanding representative of American left-wing female writer and an influential promoter of American proletarian literature, Meridel Le Sueur has left valuable legacy in the literary history. Le Sueur's novel The Girl is a work about identity narration, focusing on the pursuit of building a female community with “sisterhood” as the bond. The novel takes the narrative voice of marginalized female groups during the Great Depression as its main thread, reflecting the power struggles between different groups, further exposing the oppression of male-dominated society on women, while also showcasing the resistance and aspirations of marginalized female groups for identity. Moreover, the novel focuses on the inseparable intersectionality and integration among gender, class and the environment, portraying the belief in “female community for a shared future” in which marginalized female groups might have a chance to transcend the single issue for warmth and support, striving to unite, break through the barriers set by capitalism and patriarchy, and finally to rediscover their own identity.