Conventions of the Ungendered Narrative

Abstract An ungendered narrative is a work of fiction where the gender of one or more characters remains undisclosed throughout the entire work or a significant portion of it. This lack of gender results in the deconstruction of gender, and the narrative transcends a fixed gender binary. This paper discusses the importance given to characters’ gender in the history of literature as well as the ungendered narrative’s attempt to change this importance by not gendering the characters. In addition, this paper identifies the attributes common to the select ungendered narratives, that is, how ungendered narratives are written (including the stylistic and thematic features authors employ), that may help determine whether a work of literature can be called an ungendered narrative. The ungendered narrative highlights the insignificance of gender in fiction and real life, imploring readers to stop casting judgments based on gender and sexuality, which can lead to violence, trauma, ostracism, and abandonment. This narrative’s strength calls for additional such works, and this paper provides a framework for authors who intend to create them.