Thesis (M.A.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of English, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-142).

In the face of an explosion of feminist discourse and an increasingly global, deeply troubled socio-religious climate, the following study explores the role of religion qua Christianity in researching female subjectivity, according to Julia Kristeva. Kristeva's pervasive influence and controversial reception in academic circles grants her the focus of this investigation. / This project familiarizes the reader with Kristeva's theory of subjectivity as a process and situates her among the plethora of feminist theorists. It also examines her view that religion is an illusory therapy for the modern subject in crisis. Finally, these two themes are brought together in a discussion on her theory of a culture of revolt, derived from the psychoanalytic process. Kristeva's vision for the future of feminism is shown to be deeply philosophical, while also socially and politically important. Furthermore, in revolt culture, religion might well leave open the possibility of researching female subjectivity.

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Proefschrift--Wijsbegeerte--Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, 1999. / Résumé en anglais. Bibliogr. p. 201-219. Index.

The present research deals with the application of Julia Kristeva s psychoanalytic theories of the mind to a selection of William Shakespeare s plays. Kristeva s key psychoanalytic terms the symbolic, the semiotic and the abject are first elaborated in detail and are then applied to different situations and characters in the plays. The plays discussed in this thesis are A Midsummer Night s Dream, As You Like It and The Taming of the Shrew for the comedy section, Richard II, 1 & 2 Henry IV and Coriolanus for the English and Roman History section, and Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and King Lear for the Tragedy section. The reason for choosing the above plays is that I believe there is a gap of knowledge in this regard and no thorough research on this scale has been conducted up to this time. The intention is to discuss and explicate the moments in which the dramatic heroes undergo some unconscious-driven experiences that can be best explained by Kristeva s post-Freudian psychoanalytic approach. In short, what I am going to show in the present study is the psychoanalytic assumption that Shakespearean characters, forced by internal or external elements, leave the symbolic and take refuge in the semiotic. In such moments, the characters inevitably face the abject which is an archaic memory comprising the elements of enchantment and horror. The abject can be best described as the archaic memories of a distant past when the self had no border and was associated with the semiotic, a subject s harmonious beginning. In its early childhood, to become a subject, an individual breaks its semiotic ties and, by so doing, enters the realm of the symbolic which is associated with grammar and law. The symbolic awards a subject a distinct identity and helps it stay on the route to signification. Kristeva s understanding of the process of individuation is explained by her subject in process , a journey in which a subject always oscillates between the symbolic and the semiotic. The key point in Kristeva s psychoanalytic thought is that the semiotic does not fade away and hovers around a subject s border of identity and remains a constant threat for its symbolic identity. To remain immune from the annihilating forces of the semiotic, a subject has to remain vigilant and protect its borders of identity. My main goal in this thesis is to show that, in some particular situations in the plays, Shakespearean characters fail to remain vigilant and, inevitably, their subjects are exposed to the abject. In other words, in moments of ambition, anger, love or fear, they surrender or take refuge in the semiotic and face the abject. Although Shakespearean plays have previously been approached by Sigmund Freud s (and some other major practitioners ) theories, the application of Kristeva s psychoanalytic theories of the mind gives the opportunity to approach the plays from a new perspective that would otherwise have remained unknown. Thus, the originality of this research lies in its extensive application of Kristeva s theories to the selected Shakespearean plays, theories that, although they derive from those of Freud, have the potential to shed light on those psychoanalytic aspects of the plays that Freud either neglected or left unfinished.

This introductory chapter aims to briefly address the theoretical approach used in my dissertation, situating Julia Kristeva in relation to Sylvia Plath's work, as well as to place my work among particular psychoanalytic studies of Plath. 'Initiation' further continues by briefly discussing the way primary and secondary data are utilized in the dissertation and developing the rationale behind juxtaposing biographical material (mostly journals and letters) and creative work, life and art. The chapter finishes by giving an overview of the dissertation organization. The purpose of this dissertation is to discuss the notion of motherhood in Sylvia Plath's work in light of Julia Kristeva's theory of subject formation. For Kristeva, as subjects, we are never the absolute masters of our own experiences, but split subjects divided between unconscious and conscious motivations, inhabiting both nature and culture. The subject is not only split, but is also a 'subject in process' ( sujet en proces); s/he is always on trial, tested in a way against his/her various contexts (Revolution in Poetic Language 22,58,233 ). Kristeva is concerned with discourses that call up a crisis in identity and for her the discourse of motherhood is such a discourse. Motherhood is also characterized by an instability as it takes place at the level of the organism, not the subject : 'It happens but I'm not there' ( 'Motherhood According to Giovanni Bellini' 237 ). The maternal body is a place of splitting; it is more of a filter than anything else - a thoroughfare where nature meets culture ( ibid. 238 ). Neither parturition nor the birth itself are final. They are, as it were, beginnings of something other than themselves - the onset of maternity for the woman, the beginning of life for the child (Robbins 138 ).

Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1997. / Bibliography: leaves 113-116. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 289-297). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisors: Robert C Solomon and Kelly Oliver. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.