Neo-Liberalist Influence on Feminism in Zadie Smith’s NW and On Beauty

Abstract

In the academic literature about Zadie Smith’s bibliography, there is a missing perspective that takes into account the influence of neo-liberalism on her novels through a feminist lens. In this thesis, I explore how Zadie Smith has represented this influence in a critical way in her novels NW and On Beauty. Through close reading I show how the neo-liberal influence is represented, and I explore how this relates to academic theory on the neo-liberal influence and postfeminism. From this analysis I conclude that in academics, careers and personal lives, women in the novels are confronted with different effects of the neo-liberal influence on feminism. I found that this influence has caused a two-fold in women’s experience; they believe and are believed to be equal to the men in their society, even though my analysis of the books gives evidence that suggests a remaining gender inequality. Because the novels represent the fictional daily lives in a highly realistic way, this conclusion suggests that not only women in Zadie Smith’s novels experience this two-fold, but that it exists in real life as well.