This dissertation reopens the literature of the thirties by using a concept known in psychoanalytic discourse as "splitting" to analyze four representative works--Call It Sleep, For Whom The Bell Tolls, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Unpossessed. In object relations theory, splitting refers to the mental processes of projection and introjection that enable separation of comforting and discomforting thoughts. When subjected to analysis using this concept, new issues appear in each text. The dialectical role of splitting--the integrative and moral function of emotional exorcism--emerges as a central concern for Roth and Hemingway. The relationship of splitting to economic exploitation can be seen in Steinbeck's writing. The aesthetic implications of splitting becomes the topic of discussion when analyzing Slesinger's novel. I base my discussion on the assumption that the brutal ethnic, class, and national divisions of this decade suggest that these texts were conducting a correspondence about the mental position of the nation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-7879 |
| Date | 01 January 1990 |
| Creators | Schneer, Deborah Lee |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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