This paper takes a psychoanalytic approach to analyse the protagonist Scout Finch’s identity formation and her rebellion against social expectations of femininity. Her aggressiveness plays a central role in her character development, reflecting Maycomb’s societal struggle in dealing with discontent in its social, political, and economic situations. Understanding the dynamics behind her aggression and life choices is examined through Lacanian concepts of lack and desire in the context of the Imaginary and Symbolic Order. Her desires are substantiated explicitly and implicitly through her pursuit of emulating the father figure—the Symbolic Order, and the aggressiveness in her behaviour stems from the premature severance from the Imaginary Order, which parallels the defeat that Maycomb experienced in the American Civil War. As a result, Scout Finch’s identity is heavily influenced by the values and ideologies of the father figure, as well as the social conventions dictated by her society.

This research report presents a pilot study exploring the possibility of applying a Lacanian clinical methodology for analyzing unconscious dynamics in extra-analytic material. This research initially investigates the legitimacy and utility of this endeavour, followed by immersion in Lacanian thinking and the subsequent selection of potentially relevant data sets; samples of extra-analytic textual material. As this stage a recursive interaction between reading Lacanian theory and reflecting on the text is enacted. Five Lacanian concepts are identified (mirror phase, the three orders of the imaginary, the symbolic and the real, as well as the paternal agency). Although these concepts are, in process inextricable from another, they are presented as though discrete entities given that this allows for the foregrounding of different aspects in the process. The interaction between these concepts is considered with respect to Lacan‟s requirement in clinical practice of a tentative preliminary diagnosis of the patient into one of three diagnostic categories; perversion, neurosis and psychosis. Consequently, in a step that mirrors the clinical process, the textual subject of the data sets is tentatively classified as a (Lacanian) psychotic whose characteristic psychic structure is constituted out of foreclosure. Ways of discerning this structure in textual matter outside of the analytic setting are then considered. Four ways are proposed here. These are the unified or unbounded use of personal pronouns; evidence of thinking towards resolution or disintegration; denial or tolerance of difference and fourthly, the manifestation of regressive or libidinal speech actions. These four provide the basis for approaching the analysis of the selected data sets, which consist of carefully selected instances of Jacob Zuma‟s ostensibly unscripted public utterances. It is proposed that the four ways identified can be used in the analysis of other extra-analytic material.

出版於一九七七年的《鬼店》為史蒂芬‧金的第三部小說，探索的為恐怖文學裡其中一種刻畫，鬼故事。雪倫‧A‧拉塞爾給了一項令人信服的理由，何以她認為《鬼店》是一則鬼故事：「在鬼故事中，恐怖的來源來自於通常出沒某個特定地點的邪惡靈魂。」然而，《鬼店》不僅僅是一部單純的鬼故事小說，根據克萊爾‧韓森與史蒂文‧布拉姆的看法，《鬼店》是一宗可從精神分析角度切入的語言學習與退化案例。 在第一章「導論」裡，我提出本文論點：能否透過清楚說出與理解能力完成符徵(signifier)與符指(signified)的連結，決定了傑克與丹尼各自的命運。第二章「方法論」由我在本文中所用的方法構成，本章說明我如何運用席格蒙‧弗洛伊德的伊底帕斯情結(Oedipus Complex)、雅克‧拉岡的想像界(Imaginary Order)、象徵界(Symbolic Order)、實存 (The Real)、語言作為大他者的論述(Language as the Discourse of the Other)、縫合點(Points de Captions)。第三章欲探討的是傑克與丹尼的伊底帕斯情結，傑克的殞落可追溯至他的童年時期，丹尼的生存則可以他的現況加以分析。第四章「似乎他的生命全靠學習閱讀才得以維持」討論丹尼如何藉由語言學習，從想像界前進到象徵界並打破托倫斯家庭特有的父子關係循環，丹尼漸漸地學習如何連結符徵與符指，清楚地說出與理解這些符指及背後的符徵為丹尼鋪了一條歧異的路，透過這條路丹尼得以存活並成長。第五章「理性的蟄伏」將探討全景飯店如何藉由大他者/小他者的論述(The Discourse of the Other/ the other)誘惑傑克，也探討傑克的瘋狂如何藉由象徵界退化至想像界表現出來，我也會藉由瘋狂的其中一種症狀，不能掌握縫合點：越來越不能連結符徵與符指的情形闡述傑克如何變得偏執於並合理化自己的不當行為，例如殺掉他的妻兒。在第六章「結論」，我將簡述前面五章的要點，幫助讀者釐清本文的宗旨。 / The Shining (1977), Stephen King’s third novel, explores one of the horror genre’s characterizations, the ghost story. Sharon A. Russell gives a convincing reason why she considers The Shining a ghost story: “In the ghost story the origin of the horror comes from evil spirits who usually haunt a specific location.” However, The Shining is not merely a simplistic ghost story. According to Claire Hanson and Steven Bruhm, The Shining is a case of language acquisition and regression from a psycho-analytical perspective. In Chapter One, “Introduction,” I issue my thesis statement that aptitude for articulation and intelligence of the signification determines each of Jack’s and Danny’s destinies. Chapter Two, “Methodology,” consists of the methodology I employ in the analysis of The Shining. That is, how I apply Sigmund Freud’s and Jacques Lacan’s theories, Frued’s Oedipus complex, and Lacan’s three orders, language as the discourse of the Other, and points de caption to this study of The Shining. The exploration of the Oedipus complex for Jack and Danny is Chapter Three’s subject matter. Jack’s downfall can be traced back to his own childhood, and Danny’s survival can be studied in terms of the exploration of his own status quo. In Chapter Four, “As though His Life Depended on Learning to Read,” I discuss Danny’s progression from the imaginary order into the symbolic order and breaking away from “the wounded father-son cycle” (Davenport) in terms of his increasing acquirement of language. That is to say, Danny learns to decipher the signifiers and to make significations between the signifiers and the signifieds. Articulation and intelligence of such signifiers pave a divergent way for Danny as a survivor and an adult in the story.” In Chapter Five, “The Sleep of Reason,” I elaborate upon how the Overlook entrances Jack by means of the discourse of the Other/evil other and how Jack’s insanity can be manifested in terms of his regression from the symbolic order into the imaginary order. I will take advantage of one of the symptoms, failing in the grasp of points de captions, increasingly failing to catch the interdependent relationship between the signifier and the signified, to expound how Jack becomes paranoid and self-justified in his wrongdoing and misbehavior, such as to murder Danny and Wendy in conformity to the former caretaker’s indication. In Chapter Six, “Conclusion,” I summarize the previous points to help the readers further understand the thesis’ purpose.