The body and the construction of an identity in Michel Faber’s “Under the Skin”

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2018 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,30, University of Passau (Department of English Literature and Culture), course: Adapting Scotland, language: English, abstract: With his novel "Under the Skin" Michael Faber addresses the limitations of society and identity, which are typical themes of modern Scottish arts as well as the Scottish mentality. In Faber's novel the protagonist Isserley is caught in a constant struggle of defining herself. In which way is Isserley's process of constructing an identity problematical? Being a hybrid result of surgery, Isserley shares similarities and differences with more than one species. This inevitably influences her perception of herself and others. The process of shaping her identity based on appearance is characterised by continual constructions and deconstructions in which the murky demarcations between bodies prove to be an additional difficulty. Assuming that body and identity are mutually generative and that an identity is thus partly constructed through the body, this paper firstly explores the 'natural' body of Isserley's species as a lost marker for identification. Secondly, the body of the non-human animal is brought into discussion due to its familiarity. Thirdly, there will be a focus on the vodsel-body as a source of inner conflict for Isserley with regard to the issue of gender in relation to animals. After analysing the linguistic development in the protagonist's construction of an identity, the paper takes a closer look at the final scene.