Literature and the Construction of Identity

Published in Radical Literary Inquiry , Author : Carter, Mason ORCID iD : 0009-0004-6420-4114 Abstract Literary narratives construct identity through the interlocking operations of language, culture, class, gender, and power, rendering personhood as a relational achievement sustained within networks of mutual recognition rather than as a fixed essence. Drawing upon the theoretical frameworks of Peter Kropotkin and Murray Bookchin concerning mutual aid and organic complementarity, this essay examines the ways in which contemporary speculative fiction elaborates identity as an ongoing process of reciprocal constitution. Through sustained analysis of works by Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia E. Butler, M. E. O’Brien and Eman Abdelhadi, and related solarpunk narratives, the essay demonstrates that identity emerges through practices of collective deliberation, shared ethical frameworks, and the continual negotiation of difference within non-hierarchical social forms. Keywords: identity, language, cultur…