LITERARY AND AESTHETIC VIEWS OF JOYCE CAROL OATES

Abstract

This article explores the literary and aesthetic perspectives of Joyce Carol Oates, emphasizing her challenge to male-dominated literary criticism and her advocacy for female authors' creative autonomy. It analyzes her thematic focus on violence, trauma, and psychological complexity, deeply rooted in her personal experiences and early environment. Oates's fiction blends realism with symbolic landscapes, often depicting American society through mythologized settings and deeply flawed characters. The study highlights her stylistic range across novels and short stories, her nontraditional feminist stance, and her engagement with the evolving American Dream. Her literary voice is marked by bold narrative experimentation and emotional intensity.