<p>This essay analyzes the difference between feminine and masculine narration in Stephanie Meyer's final novel in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. The methods used are Narratology, Reader-Response Criticism and Gender Theory. Breaking Dawn is divided into three different books and one of the main characters, Bella, is the narrator in the first and the last book, and the other main character, Jacob, is the narrator in the second book. Bella's and Jacob's narration styles are manifested in the title names and inside the text, and the analysis shows why Bella is a stereotypically female narrator and why Jacob is a stereotypically masculine narrator.</p>

The pursuit of the perfect language intrigued and obsessed the literary circle of the seventeenth century, as political turmoil and chaos initiated the desire for the stable even in the aspect of language. As the perfect language is self-explicative, it indicates a perfect correspondence between the signifier and the signified in order to guarantee the purity and singleness of the meanings to avoid confusion and ambiguity inevitably occurring, for instance, in postlapsarian language. The concept of the perfect language, nevertheless, finds evidence in Milton¡¦s prelapsarian world, where unfallen Adam is endowed with divine insights to discern the nature of the animals and translate his comprehension into perfect matching names. However, the presumption of the perfect language in the prelapsarian Eden is challenged by critics as the preconditioned absoluteness could not possibly exist for it would have preempted any possibilities of inferring, implying, and guessing from the context. In my thesis, I argue that languages marked by gender as masculine and feminine dominate in the characterization and narratives of Adam and Eve, for gender is the sole mark distinguishing the first couple along with their hierarchical roles as man and man¡¦s helper. I examine Eve¡¦s gendered discourse in particular as Eve as a lesser vessel turns out to be the main target of Satan¡¦s verbal temptations and sophistries. I analyze the traits of gendered discourses and discuss how they render Eve more vulnerable, disadvantaged, and disempowered in face of Satan¡¦s rhetoric and eloquence. Also scrutinized are the critics¡¦ viewpoints concerning Eve¡¦s gendered discourse, which significantly reveals certain ingrained biases attached to stereotypical expectations for women shown in the critics¡¦ word choices and arguments in regard of Eve.

It is widely accepted that gender is actively performed and a part of identity rather than biology, and that this is where gender differences in language stem from. Researchers have attempted to define what constitutes men and women’s language, and this paper uses some of these definitions to analyse the speech of the main character in the first season of the television show Buffy the vampire slayer. This research project investigates Buffy’s use of feminine language as well as whether her language changes when her performance is otherwise more masculine in the role of the slayer. This is done by comparing conversations between Buffy and her friends with conversations between Buffy and her enemies. The results show that Buffy uses some feminine linguistic features but that her speech is not distinctly feminine in general. Her language also does not change significantly when performing the role of the slayer.

This essay analyzes the difference between feminine and masculine narration in Stephanie Meyer's final novel in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. The methods used are Narratology, Reader-Response Criticism and Gender Theory. Breaking Dawn is divided into three different books and one of the main characters, Bella, is the narrator in the first and the last book, and the other main character, Jacob, is the narrator in the second book. Bella's and Jacob's narration styles are manifested in the title names and inside the text, and the analysis shows why Bella is a stereotypically female narrator and why Jacob is a stereotypically masculine narrator.

El albur es un fenómeno lingüístico y duelo verbal de doble sentido sexual altamente asociado con la identidad y el lenguaje mexicano. El objetivo de esta tesina es explorar el albur y su relación con género, desde su concepción prehispánica hasta la actualidad, para averiguar el posible rol que pueda tener en este juego una persona de identidad de género no masculina. Al efecto, se revisa literatura sobre el albur tales como Johansson (2006), Lavertue (1998), Martínez García &amp; Erdösová (2020) y Durán González (2012), además de trabajos sobre la identidad mexicana como (Paz ([1950]1996), Szasz (1998), Lagarde ([1990]2005) y Domínguez Ruvalcaba (2013), entre otros. Se hace un análisis pragmático y sociolingüístico del albur con ayuda de teorías lingüísticas relacionadas con el humor, factores sociolingüísticos y el habla femenina, más notables la Teoría General del Humor Verbal propuesta por Attardo &amp; Raskin (1991), la variedad sociolingüística de Silva-Corvalán &amp; Enrique-Arias (2017), el trabajo de Diaz-Campos (2014) sobre lengua, edad, género y nivel socioeconómico, además de los hallazgos de Alvarado Ortega (2016) con respecto a la descortesía y humor fallido en conversaciones entre hombres y mujeres. Finalmente, se presentan los resultados y el análisis de un estudio cuantitativo nuevo, investigando cómo la juventud mexicana universitaria percibe la relación entre el albur y género al presente. Se encuentra que casi todas/os informantes se consideran capaz de entender el albur y que personas de todos géneros emplean el albur. El grado de entendimiento y empleo se percibe como un poco más bajo en las mujeres/personas de identidad de género no masculino, lo que se puede explicar por una falta de tradición y el valor negativo sociolingüístico del albur. En comparación con el hombre alburero, otra persona alburera se ve como un elemento más extraño; con respecto a las actitudes positivas y negativas, no se puede distinguir una divergencia fuerte. Se concluye que, actualmente, el albur no se debe considerar como un fenómeno necesariamente propio de los hombres, y que la inclusión de personas de otras identidades de género puede desarrollar, enriquecer y añadir valor humorístico a la tradición. / Albur is a linguistic practice largely restricted to Mexican identity and language use, constituting verbal duels of sexual double entendres. The current thesis seeks to explore how albur relates to gender, ranging from its prehispanic conception to the present day, focusing on the nature and possibility of involvement of non-male participants. To that end, literature on albur is revised, such as Johansson (2006), Lavertue (1998), Martínez García &amp; Erdösová (2020) and Durán González (2012), as well as works exploring Mexican identity, including Paz ([1950]1996), Szasz (1998), Lagarde ([1990]2005) and Domínguez Ruvalcaba (2013). A pragmatic and sociolinguistic analysis of the practice is made on the foundations of linguistic theories regarding humor, sociolinguistic factors and feminine language use, including but not limited to; The General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) developed by Attardo &amp; Raskin (1991); sociolinguistic variety by Silva-Corvalán &amp; Enrique-Arias (2017); the work of Diaz-Campos (2014) in regard to language, age, gender and socioeconomic status; and the finds of Alvarado Ortega concerning impoliteness and failed humor in conversations between men and women. Finally, the thesis also presents the results and analysis of a new quantitative study focused on how young Mexican university students view albur and gender relations in the present day. Almost all participants self-report understanding the discourse of albur, and people of all gender identities report practicing it. The degree of understanding and use is slightly lower in women/people of non-male gender identities, which can be explained by a lack of tradition and the negative sociolinguistic value of albur. Compared to male participants, other participants are to a greater extent viewed as a strange element; regarding positive and negative attitudes there is no strong difference towards the two. It is concluded that, today, albur should not be considered a phenomenon restricted to men, and that the inclusion of non-male participants can develop, enrich, and add humoristic value to the tradition.