In the attempt to let it speak its own name, authors of fiction have since the turn of the 20th century developed increasingly nuanced representations of madness. Such complicated productions of literary madness, I suggest, can be understood in terms of a rich fusion of philosophical inquiry and narratology. Through a reading of László Krasznahorkai’s novel War and War, I highlight how madness is staged as a form of extreme alienation resulting from a process of anticommunicative monologic speech. Building from Paul Buchholz concept of verbal nihilism, I argue that the protagonist of Krasznahorkai’s novel is engaged in an unsustainable process of creative unmaking that leads to madness and his suicide. Further, as enabled by Krasznahorkai’s use of narrative ambiguity, my analysis will also shed light on some of the ways that literature can engage with the theoretical and philosophical traditions of the problem of madness. Though some critics would argue that the novel’s extratextual footprint is suggestive of an attempt at reaching out to a community of outsiders, my analysis argues that the text’s overall trajectory of creative unmaking points to their identity as ultimately empty signifiers.

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z & s charts the story of Sophreen and Zehra, ostensibly two girls in love, who experience transnational migration together. Through the lens of their relationship, I explore themes of embodiment, survival, complicity, cultural erasure, and the complexity of abuse and trauma for multiply marginalized people. I use poems and visual art to portray the colliding worlds of feminized people as they navigate madness, psychosis, disability, and illness in the frame of desire.

Mad scenes, mental illness and their consequences are frequently portrayed in opera. In my opinion, every time mental illness is embodied in any media, there is an associated responsibility to do research and to one’s best ability try to understand what mental illness does to those afflicted. To widen our minds to all the peculiarities of the human condition. To understand that our embodiment affects the receivers –our audiences- and is ultimately a contribution to the collective understanding of mental illness in society. If I was going to use a mad scene as my material for research, I wanted to handle it in the most emphatic and nuanced way possible. I wanted to understand what my role figure Elvira (from the opera “I puritani” by Bellini) was going through and how to give her story credibility and respect. The vehicle I chose was dance and choreography.

[pt] Esta tese se propõe a discutir as representações sociais da loucura e do lugar social do louco, cujo objetivo se articula à avaliação de Paulo Amarante (2007) sobre a importância da dimensão sociocultural relativa aos desdobramentos da Reforma Psiquiátrica Brasileira para o processo de desinstitucionalização, que prevê a reinserção social das pessoas com transtornos mentais. A Teoria das Representações Sociais por sua abordagem processual, com Serge Moscovici, Denise Jodelet e Angela Arruda, dá suporte para o entendimento e para a aproximação do objeto trabalhado. A Cartografia de Deleuze e Guattari, também acessada através da leitura de Virgínia Kastrup e Roberta Romagnoli, e a Análise de Conteúdo de Bardin (2011) são as ferramentas teórico-metodológicas utilizadas para o acompanhamento do processo e a análise do material produzido pelos 29 entrevistados nos dois campos da pesquisa. A análise de conteúdo mostra as representações sociais do louco com características simultâneas e polares de agitação e agressividade ou tranquilidade e docilidade, e também como alguém que não é normal. A casa e a família foram apontadas como lugar social a ser ocupado pelo mesmo, e não os hospitais psiquiátricos. A loucura foi representada como doença, distúrbio, necessitando de medicação para seu controle e facilitação do convívio social, mas também as terapias foram apontadas como parte essencial do tratamento. A comunidade ainda oferece resistência à convivência com as pessoas com transtornos mentais por medo de violência e de perdas materiais, pedindo a internação das mesmas. A internação foi representada como necessária nos momentos de crise ou surto dos loucos. Os contornos mais finos e/ou singulares relacionados ao mapeamento das representações sociais podem ser identificados no exercício cartográfico a partir de três entrevistas escolhidas, e, na expressão das imagens produzidas pela pesquisadora, utilizando a linguagem visual para abordar aspectos do objeto e do processo como um todo. / [en] This thesis proposes to discuss the social representations of the madness and the social place of the individual with a mental disorder, whose objective is articulated with the evaluation of Paulo Amarante (2007) on the importance of the sociocultural dimension related to the developments of the Brazilian Psychiatric Reform for the process of deinstitutionalization, which provides for the social reintegration of people with mental disorder. The Theory of Social Representations for its procedural approach, with Serge Moscovici, Denise Jodelet and Angela Arruda, supports the understanding and the approximation of the object worked. The Cartography of Deleuze and Guattari, also accessed through the reading of Virginia Kastrup and Roberta Romagnoli, and the Content Analysis of Bardin (2011) are the theoretical-methodological tools used to follow the process and the analysis of the material produced by the 29 interviewees in the two fields of research. Content analysis shows the social representations of the individual with a mental disorder with simultaneous and polar characteristics of agitation and aggressiveness or tranquility and docility, and also as someone who is not normal. The house and the family were pointed out as a social place to be occupied by the same, and not the psychiatric hospitals. Madness was represented as a disease, disorder, requiring medication for its control and facilitation of social interaction, but also the therapies were pointed out as an essential part of the treatment. The community still offers resistance to living with people with mental disorder for fear of violence and material loss, asking them to be hospitalized. Institutionalization was represented as necessary in times of crisis or outbreak of the individual with a mental disorder. The finer and / or singular contours related to the mapping of social representations can be identified in the cartographic exercise from three chosen interviews and, in the expression of the images produced by the researcher, using the visual language to approach aspects of the object and the process as one all.

In the existing literature, the constructs of "madness" and "woman' have long been associated with one another. This association has led to attempts by various authors, and also this current work, to deconstruct the constructs of madness and gender. The association between the constructs of "madness" and gender is seen in terms of metaphor. The relationship between the constructs of madness" and "woman" are described in terms of the manner in which meanings of metaphors of duality are collapsed onto one another. The approach to this discussion typifies the current shift in the human sciences from a belief in objective bias-neutral research to a new kind of self -conscious and sophisticated reality. I placed myself in this discussion as a researcher and a therapist, influenced by feminist, contextual and social constructionist ideas. The structure of this discussion was employed to reflect the theoretical perspectives mentioned above.therapist, influenced by feminist, contextual and social constructionist ideas. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

本研究討論台灣當代小說的瘋狂敘事，以舞鶴和陳雪的小說創作為主要觀察中心。在討論瘋狂敘事之前，首先解釋「現實」概念在不同時代背景、不同文化團體之間所具有的多重指涉，藉著分析不同文化團體與作者間的相互關係，本研究發現在這樣的文化場域內所產生的拉攏和排拒力量，都將影響作家的創作甚鉅。然而，有些作家卻以瘋狂敘事作為一種保持「心靈語言」的方式。本研究主要先找出台灣小說瘋狂敘事的系譜，追溯至六○年代現代主義作家，以王文興為例，他在小說中早已經表現出「理性啟蒙」和「浪漫瘋癲」的雙重意識。在舞鶴的作品中，他藉由瘋癲者被監禁的主題裡繼續「理性」和「瘋狂」相互交纏的雙重結構，並研發出他扭曲的文法，逆轉了「神聖」與「卑賤」的涵意，同時他也自鑄各種新詞，以作為威權時代後的創傷病癥。論文的第二部分討論陳雪的瘋狂敘事，發掘她與前世代女性作家瘋狂敘事的差異之處。不同於奧菲莉亞的浪漫或美杜莎的恐怖形象，陳雪以混亂而不安的精神辯論、循環不已的時間系統表現出創傷的延遲反應。但陳雪的創作不停留於自憐階段，反倒以創傷為媒介，展開集體附魔的發瘋效應。因此，在舞鶴與陳雪的精彩絢麗的文字創作中，我們看見瘋狂敘事多向發展的可能性和差異性。 / The study discusses the narrative of madness in contemporary Taiwan fiction, focusing on the works of Wu He and Cheng Syue. The study starts with an interpretation of the multiple meanings of “reality” in different eras and backgrounds, as well as the diverse understandings of “reality” among different cultural groups. By analyzing the relationships between opposite cultural groups and writers in the Post-Martial Law era, the study finds out that the strengths of both alliance and repulsion inside the cultural field greatly influence literary writings; some writers, however, utilize the narrative of madness to retain “language of the mind.” The main part of the study discovers the genealogy of the narrative of madness in Taiwan by tracing back to the modernist generation in the 1960s, including Wang Wen Hsing, who shows double consciousness of “enlightenment reason” and “romantic madness.” My study then aims at the theme of “confinement” in Wu He’s works, since he extends the dual structure of “reason” and “madness” through the concept of “confinement.” Besides, Wu He develops a distorted grammar to converse the concepts of “sanctity” and “ignobility” and creates new phrases to show the symptoms of trauma after the authoritarian era. The second part of the study is to analyze the narrative of madness of Chen Syue, discussing the differences of expressing madness between her and the female writers of the earlier generation. Unlike the romantic figures of Ophelia and the horrible images of Medusa, Chen Syue’s works show the belated traumatic affects with anxious debates and circulating systems of time. Furthermore, Chen Syue’s writings do not stop at the stage of narcissism, but rather reveal the mediating function of trauma which triggers madness. Therefore, in Wu He and Cheng Syue’s works, verbal extravagance displays diverse possibilities and aspects of the narrative of madness.

Concepts of mental health and normality cannot be understood apart from cultural norms and values. The most significant of cultural constructions that shape our view of madness is gender. Madness has been perceived for centuries metaphorically and symbolically as a feminine illness and continues to be gendered into the twenty-first century. Works of art and literature and psychiatric medicine influence each other as well as our understanding and perception of mental illness. Throughout history, images of mental illness in women send the message that women are weak, dangerous, and require containment. What are the cultural links between femininity and insanity, and how are they represented? Through the lenses of disciplines such as theatre criticism, feminist theory, and psychiatry, this thesis examines the history of madness as a gendered concept and its depictions in art and literature. Additionally, it will explore the representation of female madness in contemporary dramatic literature as compared to the medical model used during the era in which it was written as well as the social and cultural conditions and expectations of the period. The three plays under consideration are: Long Day’s Journey Into Night, written in 1941 by Eugene O’Neill; Fefu and Her Friends, written in 1977 by Maria Irene Fornés; and Next to Normal, produced on Broadway in its current form in 2009 and written and scored by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitts. None of these plays tell a tidy story with a straightforward ending. In none do treatment facilities offer refuge or health professionals offer answers. Struggling characters resort to drug abuse, fall prey to internalization, or leave treatment all together, having been subjected to enough victimization. The relationship between patient and physician is depicted to be, at best, ambivalent. The themes in these plays illuminate women’s mental illness as an extensive problem with many contributing factors, and the origins of which are quite complex.

A quelle(s) logique(s) répondent les dispositifs de création réalisés par Antonin Artaud et David Nebreda ? Quel statut attribuer à leurs « œuvres », si tant est que l’on puisse accoler cette appellation à leurs travaux ? Pour répondre à ces questions, nous mènerons une réflexion d’ordre esthétique et nous nous interrogerons parallèlement sur la spécificité du processus de création dans la psychose. Nous étudierons les productions d’Artaud et de Nebreda sous l’angle de la mise en scène et de la performativité. Nous mettrons également en lumière l’abolition de la représentation, l’effondrement de la scène et les limites du jeu / je. Nous montrerons ainsi la prédominance des registres Réel et Imaginaire conçus par Jacques Lacan. Chez ces « artistes » transgressant les frontières des genres et de l’art, les manifestations incontrôlées du corps et les conflits intrapsychiques donnent lieu à des recréations simultanées du monde et du langage, qui, en même temps qu’elles s’apparentent au déroulement d’une cérémonie de mise à mort, tracent des signes inédits, forment d’étranges parcours et s’orientent vers l’horizon d’une nouvelle naissance. / Which logic is guiding the multimodal creations proposed by Antonin Artaud and David Nebreda ? What kind of status can be applied to their “(art)works” ? In order to answer these questions, we will lead an esthetical research and study concurrently the specificities of the creative process in psychosis. We will examine Artaud’s and Nebreda’s productions through the notions of setting and performativity. We will underline the abolition of representation and the crumbling of the stage as well as the limits of play / subjectivity. We will show the predominance of the Real and Imaginary registers as they have been conceived by JacquesLacan. By Artaud and Nebreda, the uncontrolled corporal manifestations and the intra-psychicconflicts generate simultaneous recreations of the body and language as, in the same time, they achieve a sort of sort killing ceremony, tracing unseen signs, outlining strange trails and pointing toward the horizon of a new birth.

Partindo de uma abordagem da figura polêmica da loucura como domínio estratégico de inúmeras relações de poder que não majoritariamente orientadas por princípios restritivos, esta dissertação enfoca a produção do sujeito “usuário" em um NAPS (Núcleo de Atenção Psicossocial) – instituição pública de saúde mental vinculada ao movimento da Luta Antimanicomial. Para tanto, transcrições de entrevistas com os usuários foram analisadas segundo o método de análise institucional de discurso. Visou-se, com isso, ao estudo da constituição do sujeito no discurso – o que implica tanto o seu vínculo com a instituição quanto a interlocução que se configura com o entrevistador no ato mesmo da entrevista. Empreendendo uma analítica do discurso do usuário – em detrimento de classificações psiquiátricas ou psicopatológicas impostas aos sujeitos –, realizou-se o delineamento de singularidades por meio da positivação desses discursos. Por fim, confrontando as análises das entrevistas, buscou-se mapear as regularidades discursivas e as diversas correlações de força. Temas como violência, médicos, sexualidade, medicamentos e cotidiano institucional são abordados nesta pesquisa, sempre tendo por base o discurso dos usuários. / Starting with an approach of the controversial image of insanity as a controlling strategy of various power relationships, which are not mostly guided by restrictive principles, this dissertation focuses on the subject’s production, a user in a NAPS (Social and Psychological Attention Centre) – public institution of mental care, which is linked to the “Anti-Mental Hospital" fight. Therefore, transcriptions of users’ interviews were analyzed according to the institutional discourse analysis method. For the objective of studying the subject’s constitution in the discourse – which implies its relation to the institution and the conversation configured with the interviewer during the interview. Applying the user’s discourse analysis – in disregard of psychiatric or psychopathological categories imposed on the subjects – was made the outline of singularities through the assertiveness of those discourses. At last, comparing the interviews’ analyses, we intended to map discourse regularities and various power correlations. Topics like violence, medicals, sexuality, medicine and institutional daily life are always approached in this research, keeping the users’ discourse as support.