Unreliable Semiology from Frankenstein to Freud

2021 ◽  
pp. 143-182
Author(s):  
Arden Hegele
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Case History ◽  
Medical Discourse ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Case Histories ◽  
Reading Practice ◽  
Romantic Era ◽  
Scientific Report ◽  
A Site

Examining how prose fiction and the case history share certain formal features, this chapter turns to the medical field of semiology to investigate how the Romantic-era case history models a diagnostic reading practice that extends from medicine to the novel. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) is a notable, even parodic, literary case history informed by conventional protocols of medical reporting, visible both in Romantic-era case histories, and, at the end of the nineteenth century, in the case histories of Sigmund Freud. The Romantic case history captures fundamental tensions between the physician’s scientific report and the patient’s autobiography, which compromise the physician’s ability to trace a semiotic relationship between external symptom and underlying condition. The case history proves to be a site of disciplinary quarrel between literature and medicine: not only does it anticipate many of the epistemological problems that attend our modern attempts to read “symptomatically” or “deeply,” it also interrogates the notions of authority, personhood, and normality that continue to sustain modern medical discourse and literary criticism. As the case history reveals the unreliability of the diagnostician’s production of narrative, it also shows the limitations of interpretation in the emergent medical and literary fields of semiology.

THE GHOST IN THE CLINIC: GOTHIC MEDICINE AND CURIOUS FICTION IN SAMUEL WARREN'SDIARY OF A LATE PHYSICIAN

2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meegan Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Case History ◽  
Clinical Medicine ◽  
Medical Discourse ◽  
Critical Element ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Case Histories ◽  
Gothic Novel ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medical Vision

IN 1856, WHEN MANY VICTORIAN PHYSICIANS WERE STRUGGLING TO DEFINE A MODEL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE, the reviewer of one collection of case histories voiced his dismay at the physician-author's preference for “dreadful incidents” and “cases exceptional and strange” (“Works” 473). Indeed, although physicians of the clinical era did not disguise their efforts to achieve a new kind of discourse, productive of a “realist” vision, few acknowledge how often the “clinical” case history of the nineteenth century also shares the romantic discourse of the Gothic, especially its interest in the supernatural and the unexplainable and its narrative aim of arousing suspense, horror, and astonishment in the reader. Literary critics have also focused primarily on the association of medical narrative with a realist literary discourse. Nineteenth-century physicians did campaign for the formal, objective, and professional clinical discourse that serves as their contribution to a realist aesthetic, in the process explicitly rejecting eighteenth-century medicine's fascination with “the curious” and its subterranean affiliation with the unknown, the unexplainable, and the subjective. But, as I show in this article, a discourse of “the curious,” allied with a Gothic literary aesthetic, stubbornly remained a critical element of many case histories, though it often presented under the mask of the more acceptable term, “interesting.” The discourse of Gothic romance in the case history provides a narrative frame that, unlike the essentially realist clinical discourse, could make sense of the physician's curious gaze, which had become nearly unrecognizable as a specifically medical vision. Indeed, a “curious” medical discourse haunts even case histories of the high clinical era, late in the century; and it energizes the nineteenth-century Gothic novel. Samuel Warren's novelPassages from the Diary of a Late Physician–deplored in the quotation above–illuminates this tradition of “Gothic medicine” as it plays out in the nineteenth-century novel. This tradition, I argue, provides the novel with a powerful model of cultural contamination and conflict in its yoking of disparate discourses. Gothic medicine demonstrates the importance of clinical medicine to literary romance, and it cannot help but reveal the ghost of “the curious” in the clinic.

Ireland and Europe after 1973

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Hand
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Real People ◽  
Economic Union ◽  
A Site

This chapter argues that the novel form is best suited to giving expression to the multifaceted Irish reality. Ireland, in the modern moment, is a place of incongruity and contradiction: it is at once a site of colonization and post-colonization, as well as simultaneously positioning itself as an integral part of a modern, globalized, economic union. The novel’s being bound to the immediate moment, while also aspiring toward the transcendence of immutable art, perfectly reflects an Irish mood caught between the violent actuality of war and a desire for mundane ordinariness. Indeed, it can be argued that the novel form offers a very human, and humane, lens through which to expose the hidden histories and anxieties of real people. Certainly the Irish novel has consistently done this from the seventeenth century onward, as it has charted the story of Ireland’s complex emergence into modernity.

CPT-based liquefaction case histories compiled from three earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand

2021 ◽  
pp. 875529302199636
Author(s):  
Mertcan Geyin ◽  
Brett W Maurer ◽  
Brendon A Bradley ◽  
Russell A Green ◽  
Sjoerd van Ballegooy
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Case History ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Free Field ◽  
Case Histories ◽  
Cone Penetration ◽  
History Data ◽  
The Past ◽  
Surface Manifestation ◽  
The Many

Earthquakes occurring over the past decade in the Canterbury region of New Zealand have resulted in liquefaction case-history data of unprecedented quantity. This provides the profession with a unique opportunity to advance the prediction of liquefaction occurrence and consequences. Toward that end, this article presents a curated dataset containing ∼15,000 cone-penetration-test-based liquefaction case histories compiled from three earthquakes in Canterbury. The compiled, post-processed data are presented in a dense array structure, allowing researchers to easily access and analyze a wealth of information pertinent to free-field liquefaction response (i.e. triggering and surface manifestation). Research opportunities using these data include, but are not limited to, the training or testing of new and existing liquefaction-prediction models. The many methods used to obtain and process the case-history data are detailed herein, as is the structure of the compiled digital file. Finally, recommendations for analyzing the data are outlined, including nuances and limitations that users should carefully consider.

Poetics of literary dream in Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky’s novel “Sideline”

2021 ◽  
pp. 132-143
Author(s):  
M. A. Lipina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Sudden Change ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Psychological Function ◽  
Symbolic Function ◽  
Original Idea ◽  
Falling Asleep ◽  
And Function ◽  
The City

The paper is dedicated to studying the oneiric text of S. Krzhizhanovsky’s novel “Sideline.” The topicality of the research is due to modern literary criticism interest in examining various aspects of artistic hypnology of Russian writers, as well as studying the works of “returned” authors, including S. Krzhizhanovsky. The realization specifics of the structural model of the literary dream in question can be presented as the following scheme: unconscious falling asleep – dream-journey – awakening by falling down. Different variants of artistic implementation of the main metaphors connected with dreaming are analyzed: “dream-life” in the image of briefcase-cushion and the image of “million-brained” dream of equality and brotherhood; “dream-death” in the image of the leader of a dream world, with the prevalence of thanatological vocabulary in the description of the city of dreams. The ways of imitating the space of real dreaming in the oneiric text of the novel are studied: awakening by falling, sudden muteness of characters, sudden change of location, etc. Also, the specifics of using the plot device of an unannounced dream is considered contributing to the illusion of “reality” of everything that happens to the character in the city of dreams. An attempt is made to consider the oneirotop of the novel in terms of classification by genre and function, plot and composition, images and esthetics and characters, as well as artistic functions of dreams in the literature (plot function, psychological function, idea, and symbolic function). The oneiric text of Krzhizhanosky’s novel “Sideline” is viewed as an artistic realization of the author’s original idea of the subconscious, dreamy origin of a communist utopia.

Women, Writing and the Iraqi Ba'thist State

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hawraa Al-Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
The State ◽  
Woman Question ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Cultural Resistance ◽  
Cultural Revival ◽  
Counter Narratives ◽  
History Of ◽  
A Site ◽  
Material Form

The book examines the trajectory of the state sponsored novel in Iraq and considers the ways in which explicitly political and/or ideological texts functioned as resistive counter narratives. It argues that both the novel and ‘progressive’ discourses on women were used as markers of Iraq’s cultural revival under the Ba‘th and were a key element in the state’s propaganda campaign within Iraq and abroad. In an effort to expand its readership and increase support for its pan-Arab project, the Iraqi Ba‘th almost completely eradicated illiteracy among women. As Iraq was metaphorically transformed into a ‘female’, through its nationalist trope, women writers simultaneously found opportunities and faced obstacles from the state, as the ‘Woman Question’ became a site of contention between those who would advocate the progressiveness of the Ba‘th and those who would stress its repressiveness and immorality. By exploring discourses on gender in both propaganda and high art fictional writings by Iraqis, this book offers an alternative narrative of the literary and cultural history of Iraq. It ultimately expands the idea of cultural resistance beyond the modern/traditional, progressive/backward paradigms that characterise discourses on Arab women and the state, and argues that resistance is embedded in the material form of texts as much as their content or ideological message.

scholarly journals The Concept of Victorianism in A. S. Byatt’s “Posession”

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Victorian Novel ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Victorian England ◽  
Victorian Era ◽  
English Novel ◽  
The Past ◽  
Russian Literary ◽  
Postmodern Novel ◽  
Current Research Interest

The late 1990s – early 2000s was a time of numerous projects dedicated to the Victorian age and the Victorian novel as a specific phenomenon that inspires the modern novel development. The English postmodern novel with its typical narrative, time transferal to Victorian England, weaving of time layers, invokes current research interest. The relevance of this study is caused by considerable interest of researchers in the Victorian era heritage and by need of a comprehensive study of Victorian linguoculture and its implementation in the modern English novel. The Victorian text influences a new genre of the novel that reflects the gravity of modern English prose to the traditional literature of Victorian era, assumed to be particularly important in this context. The analysis of A. S. Byatt’s “Possession” in the Russian literary criticism was made only by O. A. Tolstykh; in the Ukrainian science, this work was investigated by O. Boynitska in the context of searching the past, so this subject is not investigated enough, and in our opinion is new and relevant, especially from the perspective of the “Victorian era” concept embodied in the novel. The aim of the paper is to analyze the “Victorian era” concept peculiarities in the intercultural context, on the basis of A. S. Byatt’s “Possession” as a Victorian novel. The paper takes into account the reproduction of concepts of Marriage, Home, Family, Freedom, Life, as components of “Victorian era.” The Victorian family is often represented through the place of their dwelling; therefore, the great Victorians’ works are overwhelmed by interior descriptions (Dombey’s house, Miss Havisham’s home, Mr. Rochester’s Castle). However, in “Possession,” there is an obvious contrast of Victorian buildings to the same structures in the XX century: the past prime – the modern decline. All the secrets and delusions hidden behind the facades of supposedly respectable buildings result in distorting facts and, to some extent, to violating the rights of ownership to the memories of the past. This gives another meaning to the title of the novel – “possession,” that is ownership, possession of letters, memory, truth.

scholarly journals MELAWAN STIGMA INFERIORITAS PEREMPUAN: KAJIAN NOVEL MIDAH (SI MANIS BERGIGI EMAS) KARYA PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER DAN NOVEL DI BALIK KERLING SAATIRAH KARYA NINIK M. KUNTARTO

LITERA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 414-436
Author(s):  
Robiatul Adawiyah ◽  
Muakibatul Hasanah
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Research Data ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Arranged Marriage ◽  
Unfair Treatment ◽  
Feminist Literary Criticism ◽  
Pramoedya Ananta Toer ◽  
Female Figures ◽  
Data Grouping ◽  
The Times

Seiring berkembangnya zaman, tradisi yang mengengkang kebebasan kaum perempuan mulai diperjuangkan untuk dihapuskan melalui gerakan feminisme. Penyuaraan hak-hak perempuan tidak hanya dilakukan melalui gerakan-gerakan secara nyata, namun juga dilakukan secara halus dengan memasukkan ideologi-ideologi feminsime melalui karya sastra. Penelitian ini bertujuan mendeskripsikan bentuk ketidakadilan gender dan bentuk perlawanan perempuan terhadap stigma inferioritas yang selama ini melekat pada diri perempuan. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kritik sastra feminis. Sumber data penelitian adalah novel Midah (Si Manis Bergigi Emas) karya Pramoedya Ananta Toer dan novel Di Balik Kerling Saatirah karya Ninik M. Kuntarto. Teknik yang digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data-data bentuk feminisme yang ada di dalam kedua novel tersebut adalah dengan membaca kritis dan membaca berkesinambungan. Analisis dilakukan dengan cara (1) kodifikasi data, (2) pengelompokan data, (3) interpretasi makna teks, (4) deskripsi bentuk ketidakadilan gender dan bentuk perlawanan gender, serta (5) penyimpulan hasil analsisis. Hasil penelitian sebagai berikut. Pertama, ketidakadilan gender dialami oleh dua sosok perempuan dalam dua novel berbeda, yaitu Midah dan Saatirah. Midah mendapatkan perlakuan tidak adil dari perjodohan yang dilakukan oleh orangtuanya dan dia juga mendapatkan ketidakadilan dari sosok pria yang menjadikannya budak pemuas nafsu. Saatirah mendapatkan perlakuan tidak adil dalam hubungan rumah tangganya. Kedua, bentuk perlawanan yang dilakukan oleh Midah dan Saatirah adalah dengan berusaha bangkit dari keterpurukan untuk membuktikan eksistensinya dan berusaha memperoleh kebahagian dengan cara yang mereka kehendaki tanpa ada campur tangan dari orang lain. Kata Kunci: stigma, inferioritas, marginal, feminismAGAINST THE STIGMA OF WOMEN’S INFERIORITY IN MIDAH (SI MANIS BERGIGI EMAS) A NOVEL BY PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER  AND DI BALIK KERLING SAATIRAH A NOVEL BY NINIK M. KUNTARTO AbstractAlong with the development of the times, struggles for traditions that curb the freedom of women began to be eliminated through the feminism movement. Voicing women's rights is not only done through real movements, but also subtly by incorporating feminine ideologies through literary works. This study aims to describe the form of gender injustice and the form of women's resistance to the inferiority stigma that has been attached to women. This study uses a feminist literary criticism approach. Sources of research data are the novel Midah (Si Manis Bergigi Emas) by Pramoedya Ananta Toer and the novel Di Balik Kerling Saatirah by Ninik M. Kuntarto. The technique used to collect data on the forms of feminism in both novels is critical reading and continuous reading. The analysis was carried out by (1) data codification, (2) data grouping, (3) interpretation of the meaning of the text, (4) descriptions of forms of gender injustice and forms of gender resistance, and (5) concluding the results of the analysis. The research results are as follows. First, gender injustice is experienced by two female figures in two different novels, namely Midah and Saatirah. Midah received unfair treatment from an arranged marriage by her parents and he also received injustice from a male figure who made her a slave to the satisfaction of lust. Saatirah received unfair treatment in her household relationship. Second, the form of resistance carried out by Midah and Saatirah is to try to rise from adversity to prove their existence and try to get happiness in the way they want without interference from others. Keywords: stigma, inferiority, marginal, feminine

scholarly journals “I would have to be mad to leave this bed.” A Female Heterotopia of Self-confinement in Sue Townsend’s The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year

2021 ◽  
pp. 217-237
Author(s):  
Nieves De Mingo Izquierdo
Keyword(s):  
Physical Space ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Theoretical Tool ◽  
A Site

What happens when a woman, housewife and mother, decides to take to her room and stay in bed for a whole year? This scarcely plausible proposition opens the last published work by the late British author Sue Townsend. This paper aims to explain the main coordinates of the narrative by using Foucault’s concept of heterotopia; an effective, theoretical tool when applied to the analysis of a contained, physical space which is eventually turned into a site of contestation by means of the protagonist’s self-imposed confinement. This implies further questioning on the degree of agency she displays within her environment and, in addition, raises doubts about whether the novel responds to a feminist stance on the part of the author or to a literary depiction of her unavoidable withdrawal from the outside world due to her personal circumstances.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document