Masculinization of Femininity: A Gender-Based Reading of Đoạn tuyệt [Breaking Off] by Nhất Linh

Đoạn tuyệt is the representative of not only Nhất Linh's literary life but also of the Tự Lực Văn Đoàn [Self-Strength Literary Group]. Đoạn tuyệt's contributions are emphasized in the following aspects: 1) critique of the feudal family model, 2) an advocate of female and individual liberation, 3) nationalistic content, though rather vague. Based on analysis of gender power relations in the masculinization of femininity exemplified in the character Loan of the novel, this paper addresses the following points: - In Đoạn tuyệt, the woman is eager to free herself from feudalist ties not to construct her own identity but to identify her with men's identities. - The construction of new feminine identities was conditioned in new rising discourses of Western modernity-based nationalisms in pre-revolutionary Vietnam. - The feminization of masculinity echoes the crisis of Vietnamese masculine in facing colonial power.