Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Psychoanalytic literary criticism'

This essay argued the importance of literary theory in the classroom. As a teacher, it is possible to achieve the empathetic goals of the English curriculum and Judith A. Langer’s ambition of literate thinking by using poetry and literary theory in school. The essay demonstrated this with a Lacanian reading of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poems “To a Skylark” and “Ode to the West Wind.” The analysis focused on readable and unreadable aspects of the poems. The readable aspects centred on the role of the Imaginary in “To a Skylark” and the representation of the fragmented body in “Ode to the West Wind.” Furthermore, the unreadable elements of the poetry demonstrated the discrepancy between the performative and declarative dimensions and the role of the pathetic fallacy in the signifying chain. Finally, this essay argued that, although all aspects of psychoanalytic literary theory should not be used in the classroom, elements of Lacanian thought can be used to combat the prevalence of individualism in Swedish upper secondary schools.

This essay focuses on the alienation experienced by Rusty-James in S.E. Hinton’s Rumble Fish (1975). It more specifically centers on the causes of his alienation and how the alienation is illustrated in the novel. The analysis shows that the alienation Rusty-James experiences is caused partly by socioeconomic factors; for example his lack of hope for the future is closely connected to the fact that he belongs to a low socioeconomic class. In addition, there are also psychological factors, for example a childhood trauma. The alienation and its causes are mainly illustrated through the symbolism of the featured Siamese fighting fish and how Rusty-James’ relationships are depicted.

The purpose of this essay is to perform a comparative psychoanalytic reading of The Great Gatsby (1925) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) in terms of the titular characters’ narcissistic behavior. My claim is that Jay Gatsby and Dorian Gray can be seen as different depictions of narcissism. Literary critics in previous research characterized Gatsby and Gray as narcissists, but, there has not been a comparison between the two with focus on their narcissism. Gatsby and Gray display crucial differences which suggests that they portray narcissism in different ways. Theodore Millon identified four subtypes of the original narcissistic personality in order to better identify different types of narcissists. My aim is to use his subtypes to identify, and provide the causes and effects of Gatsby’s and Gray’s particular narcissistic behavior. My analysis indicates that Gatsby can be seen as a fictional illustration of the unprincipled and compensatory narcissist while Gray can be viewed as a fictional characterization of the amorous narcissist.

In this paper I have strived to provide a new view on a timeless classic of children’s literature, Winnie-The-Pooh. In psychoanalytic literary criticism concepts and theories of psychoanalysis is implemented while interpreting literature; in this paper, I have interpreted the novel incorporating concepts of the psychoanalytic schools of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan while arguing that the denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood are manifestations of parts of the narrator’s unconscious. The first two sections of the paper present the theories and concepts of the two major schools of psychoanalysis as an introduction aimed at increasing the readability of the interpretation. The individual interpretations of each character are then presented separately, every section in some way involving psychoanalytic theory. Kanga, Roo, Piglet, Winnie-the-Pooh, Christopher Robin, Rabbit, Owl and Eeyore are shown to be repressed memories, feelings or thoughts. Included theoretical concepts are the Oedipus complex, the sexual development of infants, the journey of children towards consciousness, Lacanian desire and lack, Freudian dream interpretation and the conception that the unconscious is structured as language, among others.

Submitted by Igor Matos (igoryure.rm@gmail.com) on 2017-02-09T15:08:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2015_Rayssa Duarte Marques Cabral.pdf: 2097959 bytes, checksum: 861794f749d9db4f65edef9bf13f2b8a (MD5)
Approved for entry into archive by Jordan (jordanbiblio@gmail.com) on 2017-02-10T10:36:00Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2015_Rayssa Duarte Marques Cabral.pdf: 2097959 bytes, checksum: 861794f749d9db4f65edef9bf13f2b8a (MD5)
Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-10T10:36:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2015_Rayssa Duarte Marques Cabral.pdf: 2097959 bytes, checksum: 861794f749d9db4f65edef9bf13f2b8a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-16
CAPES
Esta dissertação tem como objeto de estudo a obra Feriado de mim mesmo (2005), do escritor brasileiro contemporâneo Santiago Nazarian. Tendo em vista a produção recente, o presente trabalho visa a contribuir para a formação da crítica literária acadêmica do autor, bem como refletir sobre a literatura contemporânea e a contemporaníssima, os escritores recém-chegados das Gerações 90 e Zero Zero e seu processo de canonização; além de tratar do extremo da individualização, ao que chamamos de “umbiguismo solipsista”, fazendo uma reflexão sobre o gênero romance e seus protagonistas cada vez mais introspectivos. A análise crítica da obra contou com certo aparato da Psicanálise, por meio da utilização de conceitos como “estádio do espelho”, “consciente”, “inconsciente” e “pequeno outro” e “grande outro”, para preencher e esclarecer certas lacunas deixadas na narrativa. Para tanto, optou-se pela apresentação da análise por meio da apresentação pormenorizada do enredo que foi linearmente, recontado e, quando cabível, interrompido por esta pesquisadora.
This dissertation has as study object the book Feriado de mim mesmo (2005), by the contemporary Brazilian writer Santiago Nazarian. Considering the recent production, this paper aims to contribute to the formation of the author’s academic literary criticism, and also to reflect on contemporary literature and “the most contemporary” literature, the newcomers writers of 90s and Zero Zero generations and their process of canonization; to treat the extreme individualization, to what we call “umbiguismo solipsista”, making a reflection on the romance genre and its protagonists increasingly introspective. The critical analysis of the work took some apparatus of psychoanalysis, by the use of concepts such as “mirror stage”, “aware”, “unconscious” and “small other” and “big other”, to fill gaps and clarify certain left in the narrative. Therefore, we opted for the presentation of the analysis through detailed presentation of the plot that was linearly recounted and, when appropriate, interrupted by this researcher.

Through a close analysis of four plays by Shakespeare, this thesis argues that the question of subjectivity ultimately comes to be negotiated around a structural impasse or certain points of opacity in each of the text's signifying practices. Challenging assumptions about the utatively "theatrical" contexts of Richard III, Richard II, Hamlet and Antony and Cleopatra, I argue that, to varying degrees, the specular economy of each play is in fact traversed by a radical alterity that constitutively gives rise to a notion of subjectivity commonly referred to as "Shakespearean". Elaborating upon the work of both Jacques Lacan and Jacques Derrida, I argue that "subjectivity" in the plays is, rather, the articulated confrontation with a non-dialectizable remainder that haunts each text from within. Crucially in this respect I relate each of the texts to Lacan's account of the "gaze" as a species of what he calls the object a: an alien kernel of jouissance exceeding all subjective mediation yet, paradoxically, also that which confers internal consistency both to subjectivity and to the very process of symbolization as such. I am, moreover, also concerned to read the work of Jacques Derrida as providing an illuminating context for how this incursion of alterity that he terms differance (what Lacan calls the Real) may be read as the unacknowledged support of subjectivity. The thesis concludes with a consideration of how this analysis of the Shakespearean object, rather than succumbing to the heady pleasures of an unfettered textuality, opens, ineluctably, onto a rethinking of the very category of the "political" itself.

Ma thèse traite d’un aspect de la critique sartrienne : la critique poétique. Elle se présente sous forme de triptyque. En effet, chaque partie traite de la figure d’un poète. Dans les deux premières parties de ma thèse, j’aborde deux poètes du XIXème siècle : Baudelaire et Mallarmé. Les deux livres qui m’ont servi de support pour étudier cette critique poétique sont le Baudelaire de Sartre et Mallarmé, La lucidité et sa face d’ombre. Ces deux essais ont radicalement bouleversé la manière avec laquelle on appréhendait jusqu’à là la figure de ces deux poètes. Si le XIXème siècle en a fait des monstres sacrés qui ont apporté la nouveauté dans le genre poétique, Sartre quant à lui, sape certaines idées reçues. Baudelaire est le premier à qui il s’attaque en dénonçant son désengagement. Il critique son dandysme outrancier qui en a fait selon lui un poète stérile. Cet essai est aussi l’occasion pour Sartre d’exposer sa théorie de l’existentialisme et de montrer que l’Engagement et la Littérature vont de pair et illustrent la liberté de l’Homme. Dans la seconde partie qui traite de Mallarmé, la lucidité et sa face d’ombre, la critique poétique se mêle à la critique historique. Sartre commence par brosser un tableau de la société du XIXème siècle en mettant l’accent sur le désœuvrement de ce siècle. Mallarmé semble comme Baudelaire illustrer une certaine forme de désengagement. Pourtant Sartre semble omettre un élément essentiel, c’est que ces poètes de la deuxième moitié du XIXème siècle font partie de ce que l’on appelle « Les Héritiers de l’athéisme ». Mallarmé dévoile l’absence d’un Dieu en caressant l’idée du suicide. Celui-ci apparaît dans ses poèmes puisque le poète expérimente sa propre mort comme pour réaffirmer l’absence de Dieu. En conséquence, il existe une liberté inhérente à ces deux poètes que sont Baudelaire et Mallarmé, mais cette liberté est bien différente de la liberté sartrienne qui se conçoit comme un absolu. Enfin dans la troisième partie de la thèse, c’est Genet qui est à l’honneur. Sartre manifeste là toute son admiration pour ce génie créateur qui a su assumer pleinement ses choix et qui n’a cessé de revendiquer la singularité de son être. La conception que se fait Genet de l’existence se situe aux antipodes de l’attitude baudelairienne. Chez Genet, la poésie s’est imposée comme un acte libérateur. Sartre n’hésite pas à comparer parfois indirectement les poètes. En effet, à ses yeux Baudelaire ne s’est aucunement illustré dans le mal. Genet, lui, par contre a fait de ce mal une véritable splendeur. Il l’a célébré et a fini par l’incarner. En abordant la destinée singulière de trois poètes, Sartre illustre en même temps sa propre philosophie existentielle. Il démontre l’absence d’un Inconscient qui expliquerait toutes nos actions et réaffirme la liberté absolue de l’Homme
My thesis deals with one aspect of Sartre's critic: the poetic criticism. It has three major parts. The first and the second parts of my thesis discuss two poets of the nineteenth century: Baudelaire and Mallarmé.Baudelaire and Mallarmé, La lucidité et sa face d’ombre represent two principals books which have been support my study. Both essays play a great role to change the way in which we thought about them before Sartre’s studies.The nineteenth century has made Baudelaire and Mallarmé as two most important poets, however Sartre brought innovation and tried to broke our popular belief. In the first part, Sartre has been denouncing Baudelaire’s disengagement.In the second part which deals with Mallarmé, la lucidité et sa face d’ombre,, Sartre describe the poets of second half of the nineteenth century as “The heirs of Atheism” . As a result, Sartre creates a new notion of freedom which is totally different from those of Mallarmé and Baudelaire. Finally, in the third part Sartre chose to express his admiration for Genet because he assumed his responsibility for his choice of being. Genet’s conception of existence is contradicted with that of Baudelaire.To crown it all, Sartre show his existential philosophy throughout these three poets of XIX and XX centuries. In relation to Sartre there is no Unconscious that would explain our actions. Consequently, he confirms the absolute freedom of Man

This doctoral thesis examines the representations and dynamics of crime and inner punishment in a range of European literary works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: F.M. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment (Преступлeние и наказaние, 1866), L. Rebreanu’s Ciuleandra (1927) and P. Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor (1985), while tracing the developments of crime fiction and the changes in criminal legal system over the span of one hundred and nineteen years. Utilising the methodology of comparative literature, I argue that the interiorized punishment - which I identify, after Foucault, as a new episteme - is a narrative thread that runs through all three novels, and informs much other writings in the same period. Informed by different socio-cultural, temporal, political, and stylistic backgrounds, each novelist utilizes distinct narrative techniques and strategies to configure their protagonists in such a way that permits the reader to get an insight into their psyches. The present study locates the literary tendency to fuse the character of the protagonist/hero and the perpetrator/anti-hero into one narrative entity and examines the literary representation of the factors that trigger the guilt or need for punishment in this entity. To this end, I focus on the narrative structure, temporal framework, geographical setting as well as the protagonists’ relations with other characters within the texts. The idea of self-punishment, its representations and manifestations, is explored through the lens of psychoanalytical theories of Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein, Jacques Lacan and Otto Rank. My psychoanalytical readings of the texts are furthermore complemented by the theoretical frameworks offered by Mikhail Bakhtinʼs theory of polyphony, Linda Hutcheonʼs account of historiographic metafiction and relevant philosophical perspectives such as Søren Kierkegaardʼs and Jean-Paul Sartreʼs existentialisms.

Jerome David Salinger´s Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye, is seen through the lens of psychoanalytical literary criticism. He is a complex character, who is torn between his dreams and emotions. He is often depicted as a liar, a rebel who drops out of school or as a depressed young man who is admitted into care for his mental problems. Some of these issues are hidden in the vernacular teenage language. The image of Holden as having a personality that is in line with narcissism is therefore discussed. The intention is to question whether or not Holden shows symptoms of a narcissistic personality. Contrary to the personality traits that some critics have described, this essay focuses on the sides of Holden´s personality that show empathy, generosity and love, despite the traumas of his childhood.

Les XIXe et XXe siècles sont caractérisés comme des siècles de la critique. La plus grande partie de cette thèse porte sur l’analyse de la « Nouvelle Critique » en relation avec l’œuvre de Jean Racine. Ce mouvement critique qui a marqué les années soixante, s’intéresse plutôt aux structures sous-Jacentes qui peuvent être dégagées d’une œuvre littéraire.Les représentants de la Nouvelle Critique qui sont en principe, Lucien Goldmann, Charles Mauron et Roland Barthes dégagent de l’œuvre racinienne, chacun de sa propre façon, une structure de base. La critique sociologique de Goldmann, la psychocritique de Mauron et la critique structurale de Barthes offrent plusieurs pistes de réflexion.Présenter les méthodes proposées par la Nouvelle Critique, dégager l’essentiel de ses théories et apprécier leur valeur en démontrant la raison qui les a rendues fondamentales ainsi que comprendre la polémique déclenchée autour d’elle sont pour ce travail des tâches à accomplir. Or, cerner les enjeux de la « Nouvelle Critique » dans la critique racinienne en examinant les critiques faites par d’autres critiques constitue l’objectif de ce travail
The nineteenth and twentieth centuries are characterized as centuries of literary criticism. The primary objective of this thesis will focus on the methodology used by “New Criticism” in relation to the work of Jean Racine. The New Criticism was a formalist movement, popular in the sixties, which focuses on objectively evaluating the underlying structure and text from literary work.Representatives of ‘‘New Criticism”, such as, Lucien Goldmann, Charles Mauron and Roland Barthes utilized structure methods to interpret Racine's literary works. The Sociological criticism of Goldmann, the Psychoanalytic criticism of Mauron, and the Structuralism of Barthes offer several areas of consideration.The aim of this study is to present the methods proposed by “New Criticism”, to reveal the essence of its theories, to assess their value by demonstrating the reason of their importance, and to understand controversy sparked around this formalist movement. So, identifying the “challenges of the ‘’New Criticism” in Racine’s criticism’’ by examining the criticisms made by other critics is the purpose of this work

My doctoral thesis focuses on the twentieth-century Scottish writer, Jessie Kesson, examining the effects of the cultural construction of gender from a feminist psychoanalytic perspective. Although my primary focus is on the detrimental effects traditional gender roles have on girls and women, recently published studies claiming that 'masculinity' is in a state of crisis are of particular value to my work. The reasons contemporary critics offer for this 'crisis in masculinity' vary widely. There are those who are convinced that women are to blame for abandoning their traditional roles as wives and mothers and moving too far into areas of society that are traditionally 'male'. This, they believe, results in a 'feminised' society that has an adverse effect on the development and well-being of boys and men. Those who support this argument generally believe that social, emotional and psychological distinctions between the genders are biologically inherent rather than socially constructed, and would prefer to see gender positions polarised rather than assimilated. At the other end of the scale are those who believe that the behaviours associated with traditional 'masculinity' are outmoded, fostering a form of emotional distrophy that is responsible for the increase in male suicide and autistic-like behaviours. Those who support this argument believe that males should develop a new set of behavioural traits more closely aligned to those traditionally thought of as 'feminine': traits like spontaneity, expressiveness, empathy and compassion. I have found the latter arguments exciting on two counts: firstly because an increasing number of male critics are joining female critics in acknowledging that many of the traits and behaviours traditionally associated with 'masculinity' are life-denying for both sexes; secondly, and most importantly, because these critics are echoing the findings of the feminist psychoanalytic critic, Jessica Benjamin, whose work I have found so stimulating. But, where critics have pointed to the problem ('masculine' behaviour) and recommended that it be modified to something more closely resembling 'feminine' behaviour, Benjamin has not only identified the source of the problem, she has developed a revised theory of human development, 'Intersubjectivity', which offers a positive and transformative approach to human behaviour. I examine Benjamin�s theory closely in Chapter Two, and make use of it in succeeding chapters. In May 2000, financed by the Bamforth Scholarship fund (with help from the Humanities Division of the University of Otago), I attended a conference at the University of St Andrews entitled 'Scotland: The Gendered Nation', which gave me a wider view of the concerns of contemporary Scottish writers and scholars. The paper I presented at the conference, "That great brute of a bunion!": the construction of masculinity in Jessie Kesson�s Glitter of Mica�, was published in the Spring 2001 issue of Scottish Studies Review. Following the conference I spent the rest of May in Scotland finding out more about Kesson and her writing under the generous tutelage of Kesson�s biographer, Dr Isobel (Tait) Murray, from the University of Aberdeen. Kesson wrote many plays for the BBC, and I was able to read Dr Murray�s copies of some of these unpublished works in the security of the Kings College Library, along with back copies of North-East Review to which Kesson contributed. In Edinburgh I visited the National Library of Scotland which holds back copies of The Scots Magazine containing pertinent articles by Kesson and her contemporaries. Then I travelled to those parts of North-East Scotland which feature most precisely in Kesson�s life and writing. My Scottish month was invaluable for its insight into the critical literary climate of Scotland, and for allowing me to reach Jessie Kesson imaginatively: through the boarded-up windows of the Orphanage at Skene; by the ruined Cathedral at Elgin; at the top of Our Lady�s Lane; and on the steps of her cottar house at Westertown Farm. [SEE FOOTNOTE] It was a privilege to trace Kesson�s footsteps and then to return to the other side of the world with a much keener sense of her 'place'. I would like to think this has carried over into my work, the structure of which is as follows: Chapter One gives a brief history of Jessie Kesson�s life and writing. Chapter Two focuses on Jessica Benjamin the feminist psychoanalytic critic whose work provides the main theoretical framework for my thesis. Chapter Three considers the expression of female sexuality in the novella Where the Apple Ripens, and the way society conspires to have it diminish rather than enhance a sense of female self-hood. Where the Apple Ripens is not Kesson�s first published work but, because it introduces the central concerns of my thesis through the experiences of an adolescent girl, I have chosen to begin with it rather than with The White Bird Passes and to work towards increasingly complex gender relations in succeeding chapters. In Chapter Four, The White Bird Passes, I look at the way Kesson depicts girls and women as instruments of male sexuality, controlled by a nervous patriarchy whose institutions (family, education, church) take away the promise of her female characters. Chapter Five is centred on The Glitter of Mica, and considers the consequences of a masculinity constructed around the destruction of 'the Mother'. Chapter Six considers the fate of the anonymous young woman in Another Time, Another Place, and examines the conventions of the social order that deny her self-definition. Chapter Seven also examines the social conventions that shape and limit the lives of Kesson�s female characters - this time in a selection of Kesson�s short stories and poems. In Chapter Eight I look at selected writers from the eighteenth to the twentieth-century whose work, in diverse and often contradictory ways, has contributed to an interrogation of gender in Scottish literature. This is not an historical and systematic survey of gender relations in Scotland; it is not even an historical and systematic survey of gender questions in Scottish literature. Rather, it is an impressionistic account of such matters in some selected Scottish literature - selected in part to cover some highly influential figures, and in part from Jessie Kesson�s more immediate context: feminine, rural, the North East. There is a place for such historical and systematic work, of course, and I hope that someone will do it. All I can hope for is that I may have provided some beginning but more importantly, that my work in this chapter will sharpen, further, an understanding of Jessie Kesson. I begin with the life and work of the poet, Robert Burns. As well as featuring in Kesson�s Glitter of Mica, Burns and his legacy are matters of influence in the gendered ideal of 'Scottishness' for both laymen and writers at home and abroad. Following Burns, I contrast the unconscious gender ideology which permeates Neil Gunn�s writing with the progressive awareness of gender issues that characterises the work of Lewis Grassic Gibbon and aligns the latter with Kesson�s. I then examine the idealised landscapes and sentimentalised characters of the Kailyard era and the hostile response of the anti-Kailyard writers. This leads into an examination of Hugh MacDiarmid�s poem, A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle. MacDiarmid, like Burns, was monumental on the Scottish literary scene and his efforts to rekindle the spirit of the primitive Scot through literature have made him influential with a smaller but equally significant group. What is of particular relevance to my work is that the ideal of 'Scottishness' fostered by writers such as Burns and MacDiarmid is heavily dependent on prescribed gender positions which promote the exploitation of women while rendering them subservient to men and politically powerless. It is from within this environment of gender-based Scottishness that Jessie Kesson and other women writers, were writing and arguing. Therefore, lastly, in Chapter Eight, I concentrate on those women writers whose work has the most relevance to the time, place and ideological content of Kesson�s writing: Violet Jacob, Catherine Carswell, Lorna Moon, Willa Muir and Nan Shepherd. The writing of all of these women is concerned with psychic well-being centred on human relations and/or self-determination and, of the five, the writings of Willa Muir and Nan Shepherd are considered more fully because of the particular contribution they make to my examination of Jessie Kesson: Willa Muir commented, both directly and indirectly, on gender matters. Nan Shepherd, quite apart from being a friend of many years to Jessie Kesson, wrote novels in which gender issues are entirely central. FOOTNOTE: I am indebted to Sir Maitland Mackie for giving me a guided tour of Westertown Farm, the setting for Darklands in The Glitter of Mica.

Text in English with abstracts in English, Afrikaans and isiZulu
There has been considerable debate amongst feminist scholars as to whether the normalization of cosmetic surgery positively impacts women, empowers women by promoting agency and choice (Gimlin 2002, Kuczynski 2006), or oppresses women by propagating patriarchal ideologies that confine women’s bodies and consequently inhibit their voice (Blum 2003, Blood 2005, Heinricy 2006, Clarke and Griffin 2007, Tait, 2007). Rather than entering this debate my argument proceeds from a premise that the normalization of cosmetic surgery is a form of implicit and exclusive violence. Using a selection of post‐structuralist, feminist, and psychoanalytic theories, I analyze the manner in which this form of violence confines women’s bodies and structures the psyche. Using Jacques Lacan, Judith Butler, and Michel Foucault’s argument on pastoral power, I deconstruct the formation of the normalized self, the conscience, and the act of confession as it translates in the context of the cosmetic surgical body itself. Furthermore, I highlight liberal feminism’s role in this form of oppression. In so doing, I theoretically show the continual and effective functioning of pastoral power in the context of an individualization technique that oppresses women in the second decade of the twenty‐first century. I argue that the normalization of cosmetic surgery provokes a silencing of woman’s voices, an exploitation and oppression of the individual’s psyche, and an invalidation of the living body by a less visible, less explicit, mode of incarceration that is concealed by an aesthetic and moral veil. It is in this context that I present a counter discourse to the oppression that underlies the normalizing discourses promoted by the cosmetic surgical industry, a destabilization of patriarchal norms embedded within cosmetic surgical discourses, and a theoretical reconstruction that involves an inscription of what I refer to as an authentic feminist voice in contemporary consumer culture – a mode of intimate unconscious insurgence. I advocate a return to Julia Kristeva’s theory and the intimate revolt promoted by her ethical approach. Furthermore, I present a voice that demonstrates an intimate revolt – a voice that challenges patriarchal norms and is not exclusively confined by the mechanisms of normalization that shape the twenty‐first century woman with emphasis on the cosmetic surgical industry and its superincumbent discourses – the South African poet Antjie Krog. It is Krog’s skillfully structured poetic texts that facilitate my theoretical reconstruction. Applying Kristeva’s theory on semanalysis, I theoretically show that Krog’s work fabricates an excess to the confines of the law of the Father and the mechanisms of normalization itself. In addition, I present an “originary attachment” as an adaption of Kristeva’s argument on the chora and my proposal of an “originary ideal” challenges Kristeva’s emphasis on phonetic grams in the context of that which underlies the realm of the paternal metaphor. Using Louise Viljoen’s analysis of Krog’s work and Bridget Garnham’s research on emerging designer cosmetic surgical discourses as support, I then present Krog’s poetic texts as a counter discourse to the “moral” cosmetic surgical discourses that exploit the ageing individual in the second decade of the twenty‐first century. In addition, applying Kristeva’s theory on paragrams to Krog’s poetic text(s), I present a destabilization of the patriarchal norms implicit within cosmetic surgical discourses. Furthermore, I extend Kristeva’s theory on the principle of negativity to present a re‐translation of the act‐of‐confession in Krog’s poetic text(s), an extension of Foucault’s pastoral power and Butler’s argument on the exclusivity of normalization, and a reclamation of her ageing body in Verweersrkrif/Body Bereft (Krog 2006).
Feministiese geleerdes voer al geruime tyd 'n warm debat oor die kwessie of die normalisering van kosmetiese chirurgie vroue positief beïnvloed, vroue bemagtig deurdat dit volmag en keuse vir hulle in die hand werk (Gimlin 2002; Kuczynski 2006), of vroue onderdruk deurdat dit patriargale ideologieë voorstaan wat die vroueliggaam inperk en gevolglik die vrou inhibeer om haar stem te laat hoor (Blood 2005; Blum 2005; Clarke en Griffin 2007; Heinricy 2006; Tait 2007). In plaas daarvan om by hierdie debat betrokke te raak, gaan ek van die veronderstelling uit dat die normalisering van kosmetiese chirurgie 'n vorm van implisiete en eksklusiewe geweld is. Aan die hand van post-strukturalistiese, feministiese en psigoanalitiese teorieë ontleed ek die manier waarop hierdie vorm van geweld vroue se liggaam onderwerp en hul psige vorm. Ek dekonstrueer die vorming van die genormaliseerde self, die bewussyn en die daad van belydenis, soos dit in die konteks oorgebring word, aan die hand van Jacques Lacan, Judith Butler en Michel Foucault se beskouings van herderlike oftewel pastorale mag. Hierbenewens onderstreep ek die rol wat liberale feminisme in hierdie vorm van onderwerping speel. Sodoende demonstreer ek teoreties hoe die voortdurende en effektiewe funksionering van pastorale mag in die konteks van ’n individualiseringstegniek vroue in die tweede dekade van die een-en-twintigste eeu onderdruk. Ek maak die aanname dat die normalisering van kosmetiese chirurgie daartoe bydra dat vroue die swye opgelê word, die individu se psige uitgebuit en onderdruk word en die lewende liggaam ontkragtig word deur middel van ’n inkerkering wat minder sigbaar en minder eksplisiet is en agter ’n estetiese en morele sluier verdoesel word. In hierdie konteks bied ek ’n teendiskoers aan vir die onderwerping wat onderliggend is aan die normaliseringsdiskoerse wat die kosmetiesechirurgiebedryf ondersteun, en ek bepleit dat die patriargale norme wat in diskoerse oor kosmetiese chirurgie vassit, gedestabiliseer word. Ek demonstreer verder ’n teoretiese rekonstruksie wat ’n inskripsie insluit van wat ek ’n geloofwaardige feministiese stem in die eietydse verbruikerskultuur noem – ’n modus van intieme, onbewuste opstandigheid. Ek bepleit 'n terugkeer na Julia Kristeva se teorie en die intieme oproer wat deur haar etiese benadering voorgestaan word. Afgesien hiervan stel ek ’n stem voor wat ’n intieme opstand demonstreer – ’n stem wat patriargale norme uitdaag en nie uitsluitlik onderdruk word deur die normaliseringsmeganismes wat vorm gee aan die vrou van die een-entwintigste eeu nie, waar die klem op die kosmetiesechirurgiebedryf en die boliggende diskoerse daarvan val – Antjie Krog, Suid-Afrikaanse digter. Dit is juis Krog se kunstig gestruktureerde digterlike tekste wat my teoretiese rekonstruksie fasiliteer. Aan die hand van Kristeva se teorie oor semanalise toon ek teoreties dat Krog se werk ’n ruimte daarstel wat "uitstyg" bo die grense wat die wet van die Vader en die normaliseringsmeganismes stel. Hierbenewens stel ek ’n "originêre gehegtheid" as aanpassing van Kristeva se beskouing van die chora voor, en my voorstel van ’n "originêre ideaal" daag Kristeva se opvating oor paragramme uit in die konteks van dit wat ten grondslag lê aan die gebied van die paternalistiese metafoor. Op grond van Louise Viljoen se ontleding van Krog se werk en Bridget Garnham se navorsing oor opkomende diskoerse oor ontwerpers- kosmetiese chirurgie bied ek Krog se digterlike tekste aan as ’n teendiskoers vir die "morele" diskoerse oor kosmetiese chirurgie wat die verouderende individu in die tweede dekade van die een-en-twintigste eeu uitbuit. Daarby, deur Kristeva se teorie oor paragramme op Krog se digterlike teks(te) toe te pas, demonstreer ek 'n destabilisering van die patriargale norme wat implisiet in diskoerse oor kosmetiese chirurgie teenwoordig is. Hierbenewens brei ek Kristeva se teorie oor die negatiwiteitsbeginsel uit deur middel van ’n heroorsetting van die belydenisdaad in Krog se digwerk(e), ’n uitbreiding van Foucault se pastorale mag en Butler se opvatting oor die eksklusiwiteit van normalisering, en ’n opeising van Krog se verouderende liggaam in Verweerskrif/Body Bereft (Krog 2006).
Sekubekhona izingxoxo-mpikiswano eziningi kwizifundiswa zama-feminist ukuthi ngabe ukwenza isurgery yohlinzo olungajulile ukuzishintsha ukubukeka ngokwemvelo (cosmetic plastic surgery) kunomphumela omuhle yini kwabesimame, ngabe kuhlinzeka ngamandla kwabesimame ngokuphakamisela phezulu ukuthi umuntu azenzele akufunayo kanye nokuzikhethela (Grimlin 2002, Kuczynski 2006) noma kuyinto ecindezela abesimame ngokuqhubela phambili indlela nama-idiyoloji abekwa ngabesilisa ukuthi imizimba yabesimame kumele ibukeke kanjani, kanti lokhu kucindezela izwi labesimame (Blum 2003, Blood 2005, Heinricy 2006, Clarke and Griffin 2007, Tait, 2007). Kunokuthi iphuzu nami ngingenele kule ngxoxo-mpikiswano, elami iphuzu lona liqhubeka ukusukela kwisimo sokuthi ukwamukela uhlujzo olungajulile lokuzitshintsha ukubukeka kwabesimame (cosmetic surgery) kuyindlela yodlame olungaqondile ngqo kanye nolukhipha inyumbazane abesimame. Ngokusebenzisa amathiyori epost-structuralist, awe-feminist kanye nawepsychoanalytical, ngihlaziya indlela le nhlobo yalolu dlame ecindezela ngayo imizimba yabesimame kanye nokuhlela indlela okumele bacabange nokuzibona ngayo. Ngokusebenzisa iphuzu likaJacques Lacan, Judith Buttle kanye noMichel Foucault lamandla okukhokhela ngokomoya, ngiqhaqha indlela okubumbeka ngayo isithombe sokuzibona, unembeza kanye nomoya wokuhlambulula ngokuzidalula (confession) lapho kubhekwa izinto ngaphansi kwesimo somzimba wokuhlinzwa okungajulile ukuzishintsha ukubukeka ngokwakho. Nangaphezu kwalokho, ngigqamisa indima ye-liberal feminism ngokwayo kule nhlobo yencindezelo. Ngokwenza lokho, ngikhombisa ngokwethiyori ukuqhubeka nokusebenza kwamandla esikhokhelo ngokomoya ngaphansi kwethekniki yokuzazi komuntu eyedwa okucindezela abesimame kwiminyaka elishumi yesibili, yesenshuri yamashumi amabili nanye . Ngiqhubela phambili iphuzu lokuthi ukwenziwa kohlinzo olungajulile lokuzishintsha ukubukeka kuqala umoya wokucindezela izwi labesimame, ukuxhashazwa kwabo, kanye nendlela umuntu azibona ngayo ngokwengqondo, kanye nokucindezela umzimba ophilayo ngezindlela ezingazibonakalisi obala, ezifihlekile, indlela yokubopha efihlwa yindlela yokubukeka kanye nokwembozwa umoya. Kungaphansi kwalesi simo lapho ngethula khona i-discourse yencindezelo eyenza ukuthi imboni yohlinzo olungajulile ukuzishintsha ukubukeka kwabesimame kube yinto ephakanyiswayo nokubonwa iyinhle, ukuphazamiseka kwama-norm endlela yengcindezi yabesilisa, ngaphansi kwama-discourse okuhlinzwa okungajulile ukushintsha ukubukeka, kanye nokwakha ithiyori ebandakanya ukubona izinto ngendlela ethize, engikuchaza njengezwi okuyilo elifanele le-feminism, kwisimo sosiko esiphila ngaphansi kwaso samanje - okuyindlela abantu abazibuka ngayo ezingqondweni ngendlela engekho obala. Ngigcizelela ukubuyela kwithiyori kaKristeva, kanye nokuthi abantu babhoke indlobana ngezindlela eziphansi, okuyinto ayiphakamisayo yenkambiso yokwazi okulungile nokungalunganga (ethical approach). Naphezu kwalokho, ngiveza izwi elibonisa ukubhoka indlobana kwabesimame ngendlela engekho sobala - izwi elifaka inselele kuma-norm okubhozomelwa ngumqondo wokulawula kwabesilisa, kanti futhi leli zwi aligcinanga nje kuphela umumo wabesimame ngendlela ejwayelekile njengowesimame wesenshuri yamashumi amabili-nanye ngokugcizelela kwimboni yohlinzo olungajulile lokuzishintsha ukubukeka, kanye nendlela lokhu okuyisihibe ngayo – ngokusho kukasonkondlo waseNingizimu Afrika, u-Antjie Krog. Imibhalo yezinkondlo zikaKrog ezinobungcweti yiyo eyenze ukwakha kwami kabusha ithiyori. Ngokusebenzisa ithiyori kaKristeva ye-semanalysis, ngibonisa ngokwethiyori ukuthi umsebenzi kaKrog uqambe okweqele ngaleya kwizihibe zomthetho kubaba kanye nezindlela zokwenza izinto zibukeke ngendlela evamile noma zingavamile. Nangaphezu kwalokho, ngifakela i-"originary attachment" njengokwenza ukuthi kube kwesinye isimo, iphuzu likaKristeva ku-chora kanti isiphakamiso sami se-"originary ideal" sifaka inselele kusigcizelelo sikaKristeva ngamagremu efonethiki ngaphansi kwesimo esigcizelela umfanekiso ngasohlangothini lobaba. Ngokusebenzisa ukuhlaziya kukaLouise Viljoen kumsebenzi kaKrog kanye nocwaningo lukaBridget Garnham ngokuvela kwama-discourse ohlinzo olungajulile ukuzishintsha ukubukeka njengesisekelo, ngase ngethula imibhalo yezinkondlo zikaKrog njenge-discourse yokuphikisa ama-discourse e-"moral" yama-discourse ohlinzo olungajulile lokuzishintsha ukubukeka, elixhaphaza abantu abagugayo ngeminyaka eyishumi yesibili kwisenshuri yamashumi amabili-nanye. Naphezu kwalokho, ngisebenzise ithiyori kaKristeva kumapharagramu kwimibhalo yezinkondlo zikaKrog, ngaphazamisa imibono yokuphatha kwabesilisa equkethwe kuma-discourse ohlinzo ulungajulile ukuzishintsha ukubukeka. Ukuqhubekela phambili, nginwebe ithiyori kaKristeva ngesimiso se-negativity ukwethula ukuhumusha kabusha umoya wokuzihlambulula ngokuzidalula otholakala kwizinkondlozikaKrog, ukuwukunweba amandla umbono kaFaucault wamandla okuthi abantu bazibone ngenye indlela kanye nephuzu likaButler wlkuthi into engavamile engaphandle ibonwe njengento efanele, kanye nokwamukela umzimba ogugayo kwinkondlo ye- Verweerskrif/Body Bereft (Krog 2006).
English Studies
D. Litt. et Phil.(Theory of Literature)

In this dissertation it is argued that literary theories have traditionally extended abundant attention on authors and texts, neglecting, with very few exceptions, the impor- tant role of the READER. To address this imbalance, par- ticular attention will be paid to the view of Wolfgang Iser, that a literary text can only elicit a response when it is read, and that it is virtually impossible to describe this response without also analysing the READING PROCESS. I share this view as it makes logical sense: a literary text remains meaningless, a mere 'paper and ink' production without the involvement of the reader. It is also the reader's own com- petence, his sense of aesthetic perception which enables him to make sense of the, in the literary text embedded message, hence the title: "The Nature of Aesthetic Perception in Literature. The Interaction between Text and Reader in the Process of Perceiving Literary Texts."
Afrikaans & Theory of Literature
M.A. (Theory of Literature)

This dissertation articulates the relationship between literary form and unconscious affect in fictions by Cesare Pavese, Samuel Beckett and Alain Robbe-Grillet. Drawing from contemporary psychoanalytic object-relations theory, including the work of W.R. Bion and the Bionian school, it defines three paradigmatic forms of psychic work — reparation, containment and construction — that structure the intersubjective unconscious responses to specific formal challenges. It claims that the psychic work involved in meeting those challenges is both “historical” — in the sense that it reveals elements of each text’s historicity and political valence within their cultural setting — and “productive,” in the sense that it entails a degree of psychic growth for the reader. This dissertation bridges literary history, psychoanalytic theory and reader-response theory. It seeks to intervene in each discipline’s debates: in literary-historical terms, it argues that the psychic work of reading must be understood as constitutive of the texts’ expression of the context of the postwar and as part of their struggle to move beyond the aesthetic of modernism. In psychoanalytic terms, it joins in the lively discussion about the historical specificity of the mechanisms theorized by object-relations theory. Finally, at the level of literary theory, it seeks to affirm the value of Bion’s model of object-relations in theorizing reading as a transformative process characterized by intense unconscious, intersubjective activity. The dissertation is organized in three literary chapters, followed by a theoretical chapter. Taken together, the first three chapters represent the evidence for the need of a concept of psychic work in reading late modernist fiction and for the potential payoffs of formulating such a concept. Chapter 4 consists of four theoretical “notes,” addressing, in broad terms, the resonance of intersubjective notions of psychic work for reading, criticism and literary theory.