Jude the Obscure is not only Thomas Hardy´s last but probably also his bleakest novel. Even the epigram on the frontispiece - 'The letter killeth [but the spirit giveth life]' - can be read as having negative forebodings; it can, however, also be interpreted as a commentary on the 'nature' of language and on the absolute necessity of understanding its founding mechanisms such as absence, difference and deferral if one is to lead a happy and meaningful life and if one endeavors to claim the freedom and the responsibility to construct one´s gender identity. This essay thus centers on the extent to which Hardy´s protagonist Jude Fawley, a man who desperately clings to the illusion of a transcendental signified, is able to understand and put into practice Hardy´s epigram when constructing his masculinity. Therefore, the focus of inquiry will be the hitherto largely neglected discursive construction of an ill-fated male gender identity in a discursive universe where 'nobody did come, because nobody does' and where taking words literally has lethal consequences.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:36554 |
| Date | 27 July 2020 |
| Creators | Horlacher, Stefan |
| Publisher | Brill | Rodopi |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion, doc-type:bookPart, info:eu-repo/semantics/bookPart, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 978-90-04-29899-6, 978-90-04-29900-9, 10.1163/9789004299009 |
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