In this thesis, I read through Kristeva?s theory of the abject as a way of interpreting Cristina Garcia?s <i>Dreaming in Cuban</i> (1993) and interrogating common psychoanalytic readings of Christina Rossetti?s <i>Goblin Market</i> (1859) and Bram Stoker?s <i>Dracula</i> (1897). The purpose of each of these readings has been to gauge the usefulness of Kristeva?s theory as a critical tool and to determine what it allows us to achieve as literary critics and, even, as readers. Although Kristeva is clear about her desire to see women liberate themselves from the confining roles ascribed to them by psychoanalytic theory and patriarchal norms, she is not clear about how her theory can be used. Therefore, I apply her theory, specifically that of the abject, to these three fundamentally different texts in order to both investigate its usefulness and to determine what is, if anything, the triumphant result of its application (in terms of feminism).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-11212003-195541 |
| Date | 24 November 2003 |
| Creators | Howsam, Melissa Anne |
| Contributors | Dr. Sharon Setzer, Dr. Jon Thompson, Dr. Deborah Wyrick |
| Publisher | NCSU |
| Source Sets | North Carolina State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-11212003-195541/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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