Schizophrenic philosophy and gender in disguise: the postmodern case of M. Februari

Abstract

Marjolijn Drenth von Februar (pseudonym M. Februari) graduated in Art History, Philosophy and Law. This broad area of interest is reflected in her novels. Her debut, De zonen van het uitzicht (1989) marked her as one of the most post-modern Dutch-speaking writers, a reputation confirmed by her next publication, Een pruik van paardenhaar & Over het lezen van een boek (2000). In her books, reality and fiction are seamlessly intertwined, a result of the cooperation between ‘two authors sharing one mind’, the scholar Marjolijn Drenth and her literary alter ego M. Feburari. But Februari's works not only show her multiple personalities but also a distinctly gendered worldview. The sexual identity of De zonen van het uitzicht's narrator, for instance, is hard to determine. The novel contains letters signed alternately with male and female names. Role patterns are not broken down but reversed, undermined and mixed. With the help of Virginia Woolf and Deleuze & Guattari, this article analysis M. Februari's philosophy.