Transitivity Choices and Gender Construction in Elif Shafak’s 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World

Abstract

The current study examines the representation of gender in Elif Shafak’s 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World using Halliday’s (1985) Transitivity as an approach. Employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches, the research analyzes nine purposively sampled extracts, comprising 87 clauses, with a focused discussion on two key samples. The findings reveal that Shafak has made use of all types of processes but with varying frequency. The female characters are predominantly engaged in mental while the male characters are involved in material action, often with female characters as goals. The striking contrast in the nature of their actions and the circumstances, in which they are carried out, show that Elif shafak has depicted her female characters as passive, powerless, hesitant and lacking autonomy. On the other hand, the male characters have been portrayed as dominant, active, autonomous, confident and powerful. The findings reinforce how Shafak’s engages with gender and power structure in literary discourse on gender inequality.