LINGUISTIC APPROACHES TO SELFHOOD AND CULTURAL IDENTITY FORMATION IN LITERARY DISCOURSE

Abstract

This article examines the linguistic construction of selfhood and cultural identity in contemporary literary discourse through “How to Be Both”, “Frankissstein”, and “Girl, Woman, Other”. Drawing on discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, narrative linguistics, and cultural identity theory, the study investigates how language shapes fragmented, fluid, and multicultural identities in contemporary fiction. The research focuses on narrative structure, polyphony, code-switching, gendered discourse, and intersubjective communication as linguistic mechanisms of identity formation. The article argues that literary discourse functions as a dynamic space where cultural memory, gender performativity, and social belonging are continuously negotiated through language. By analyzing contemporary experimental narrative techniques, the study demonstrates that identity in modern literature is represented not as stable or fixed, but as discursively constructed, hybrid, and constantly evolving within cultural and ideological contexts.