In utilizing Kristeva's psychoanalytic discursive theory of identity-formation within literary symbolic structures, my thesis seeks to follow the ontological processes involved in identity and signification in “subversive” signifying practices. Specifically, I'm interested in the ways modern poetry (such as Elizabeth Bishop) defies traditional patriarchal discourse as dominant literary devices while embracing plurality and inherent virtues of the female voice. My project will trace Kristeva's semiotic/psychoanalytic evolution from linguistic models of the signifying process, to particulars of her psychoanalytic/linguistic theories, and finally, will attempt to construct a space within modern poetry, where it can be said, the subject (poet) remains on trial/in crisis, and poetic expression reveals the “jouissance” or unspoken voice of repression. Bishop's poetry constantly questions reality, knowledge, sexuality and the self. I strive to expose how Bishop's poetry performs Kristeva's theory of the self in writing; her poetry puts at the core of the self a sense of loss in her attempts to express herself in language. I offer close readings of “The Fish,” “Questions of Travel,” and “One Art,” to show how Bishop's self exposes the unconscious process of poetic activity. Kelly Oliver articulates Kristeva's contributions to linguistics and psychoanalysis quite succinctly, “When we learn to embrace the return of the repressed/the foreigner within ourselves, then we learn to live with, and love, others” (14). / Master of Arts

Abstract   This essay is analysing the presence of cleaning and grooming in the novels Shakespeare’s Landlord and Dead Until Dark, both by Charlaine Harris. Against the backdrop of teratology, the essay demonstrates how cleaning and grooming are means for the female protagonists Lily and Sookie to get rid of their inner and outer monstrosities. Their respective monstrosity is defined against the definition of monstrosity by David J. Skal in Monster Theory Seven Theses and the need to get rid of monstrosity is discussed against the theories of Julia Kristeva and Mary Douglas.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

I denna uppsats kommer jag analysera flickskildringen i två ungdomsromaner, Freaky green eyes och Two or three things I forgot to tell you av Joyce Carol Oates. Romanernas flickor bär på pendlande känslor av begär och avsky både inför sig själva och sina föräldrar. Därför har Julia Kristevas teorier kring abjektion som förklarar dessa motstridiga känslor som en del av subjektets tillblivelse varit fruktsamma för min analys. Flickorna söker tillgång till språket och makten genom en identifikation med sina pappor och manliga värden samt ett bortstötande av sina mammor och allt som representerar det kvinnliga. Men för att må bra och kunna uttrycka sin egen sanning krävs ett omfamnande av mammorna och den egna kvinnligheten vilket när de tillslut fullbordas får flickorna att hitta inre harmoni och sin egen röst.

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.

Boundary and desire surround the relationships in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and The Last Man. The narrative modes of Captain Robert Walton relate his separation to the rest of the world and his need for companionship. Yet, not any companionship will satisfy his longing for connection with a human being; his search revolves around the need of common understanding. This further separates the character of Lionel in The Last Man from humanity in that he is unable to find anyone left on earth after a series of plague, war, and atmospheric anomalies apparently wipe out the human race. His survival hinges on the desire to find someone, anyone, in which to share any mode of common experience. His struggles with loneliness finally culminate in his autobiography. Both Frankenstein and The Last Man deal with the issue of narrative and the bounds of human necessity for acceptance and companionship. Though both tales are from a male perspective, the gendered aspects of the stories further separate the characters in each novel. How each character is estranged by forces outside their control, and how they express this relationship between their internal selves and their outer selves, are at the core of each text. Through these ideas of boundary and belonging, this thesis will explore the relationships in Frankenstein and The Last Man.

The position of the maternal body within patriarchy is the topic of this discussion where, rather than looking at a linear sequence of events, various aspects of this position are explored. On an individual level, the intrusion of the father into the dyadic, and potentially incestuous mother-child relationship, marks the entry of the child into the Symbolic Order, and this reflects the mythical account of creation in the Old Testament, where actual maternity is repressed in favour of a paternal monopoly in creation. Just as monotheism both represses and appropriates many aspects of the goddess cult which preceded it and which it replaces, the maternal body is repressed and appropriated within patriarchy. The acquisition of language and awareness of sexual difference marking entry into the 'Law of the Father,' are constructed on a duality of self and other, a dichotomy of inside and outside with a border, represented by the skin, separating the two. This border, separating the symbolic from its other is tenuous and ambiguous, for it is not entirely impermeable barrier. What seeps across this border, what transgresses the barrier between inside and outside, is considered by Kristeva to be abject. Positioned at the threshold separating inside and outside, abjection is the threat of the ever present, but submerged mother crossing the threshold and disrupting social order. Throughout the paper are images selected from an entire body of related visual research which is closely linked to the ideas contemplated here. / Master of Arts (Hons)

<p>Gränsland is a poetry collection by the poet Eva Sjödin. One distinct theme among others in Gränsland is repulsion and attraction, disgust and fascination in interaction. There is also a direction inwards and towards something. This essay is an attempt to analyse this theme. I will apply Julia Kristevas theory on abjection, a theory that explains these contradictory feelings and movements of the subject. The first part of the analysis is about how abjection is expressed through the ego in situations concerning eating, sickness and hunger and the colour red. The last part shows how the text itself expresses abjection, and becomes abject, through its explicitness and repetitive form.</p>

Gränsland is a poetry collection by the poet Eva Sjödin. One distinct theme among others in Gränsland is repulsion and attraction, disgust and fascination in interaction. There is also a direction inwards and towards something. This essay is an attempt to analyse this theme. I will apply Julia Kristevas theory on abjection, a theory that explains these contradictory feelings and movements of the subject. The first part of the analysis is about how abjection is expressed through the ego in situations concerning eating, sickness and hunger and the colour red. The last part shows how the text itself expresses abjection, and becomes abject, through its explicitness and repetitive form.

This thesis is an examination of depression in D.H. Lawrences Last Poems in the light of Julia Kristevas theory of depressive discourse. Kristeva theorizes in Black Sun that depressed persons have difficulty communicating through ordinary symbolic means or language. In order to communicate, they must find new linguistic means to overcome sadness. Kristeva calls depressive discourse this attempt to overcome sadness through poetic language. Writing and art, and specifically poetry, can be depressive discourse, thereby allowing a certain level of recovery to occur. Once an individual can write about his or her sadness, the sufferer may experience a reprieve from depression, if only temporarily. D.H. Lawrences Last Poems, written in the last six months of his life and published posthumously, shows the crisis of depression in a dying man. The citation in the title is from Aldous Huxleys 1932 introduction to a volume of Lawrences letters, describing Lawrences change in mood in the last few months of his life (Huxley 30). Lawrences particular use of rhythm, tone and imagery can be identified as an attempt to overcome this crisis through writing. The poems exhibit specific formal features such as irregular metre, sonorous sound and hypnotically repeated words and phrases, as well as images of darkness, falling, dying, oblivion, and heaven and hell, that, coupled with the knowledge of his personal state, can be interpreted as features of depressive discourse. Using particular examples of depressive discourse within D.H. Lawrences Last Poems, this thesis will show that Lawrence was attempting to overcome his depression through poetry.