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The Role of Gender in New Zealand Literature

Comparisons Across Periods and Styles of Writing

University of Otago

Tamar Murachver

University of Otago, tamar{at}psy.otago.ac.nz

This study investigated how gender influenced language use in fiction. The writings of 59 female and 52 male authors of either award-winning or popular fiction were classified as early or contemporary depending on period of publication. More than one third of the linguistic variables coded for in the literature varied on the basis of author gender. Females used language that gave their writing a more interpersonal, socioemotional tone, whereas factual and quantitative elements were more frequently used by males. The gender effect was greater for writers of popular than award-winning fiction, and for authors writing in the early period than the contemporary period. Although results show that gender is not the only factor influencing language use, the role of gender in professional literature is robust. Variations in gender construction across period and type of writing introduce a number of avenues for future research.

Key Words: gender • language • written communication • literature • literary genre

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