Universität zu Köln

Negahdary, Mahdyeh ORCID: 0009-0004-5837-8038 (2024). Moments of Abjection in Ernest Hemingway’s Short Stories. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

PDF (Moments of Abjection in Ernest Hemingway’s Short Stories) Final_Version__MAHDYEH_NEGAHDARY.pdf - Accepted Version Bereitstellung unter der CC-Lizenz: Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives. Download (1MB)

Abstract

This dissertation engages the extensive discussion of gender in Hemingway’s fiction in order to ascertain how the seemingly contradictory interpretations of gender in Hemingway’s short stories can be correlated and related to a larger discourse. As the majority of approaches focus on either the male or female characters of the stories, with less concern for a holistic approach towards humans vis-à-vis the cultural governing system (Jacques Lacan’s view of language), it seems promising to study the ways in which the concept of the “code hero” can contribute to identifying the interaction between society and the Lacanian “Symbolic.” In this respect, the aim of the present work is to consider not only the characters and their relationships but also the other elements of the stories such as the settings as well as the atmosphere they create. The present work seeks to study the way the stories enter into dialogue with the Symbolic. Julia Kristeva’s concept of “abjection” provides a framework for the investigation. The code hero’s rejection of marriage and procreation is read as a defense mechanism against attack on the boundaries of their self by language. In other words, this study examines how abjection in Hemingway’s stories acts as a protector of individuality as Kristeva explains in her seminal Powers of Horror (1980). The investigation concludes that the stories create a linguistic milieu in which individuals, paradoxically conforming to the language and social rules, cause deviations that agitate the autonomy of culture. Thus, abjection is viewed as a performance that helps individuals advance toward a subject position in relation to the master signifier. Ultimately, the research suggests that if the manifest content of the narratives is related more to men than to women, their latent content is more concerned with the matter of gender in general. Therefore, further work focusing on gender including the female characters and minorities needs to be undertaken to enhance Hemingway scholarship.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Negahdary, Mahdyeh ma.negahdary@gmail.com orcid.org/0009-0004-5837-8038 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-742863
Date:	2024
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions:	Ehemalige Fakultäten, Institute, Seminare > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Englisches Seminar
Subjects:	English
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Ernest Hemingway, Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva, short story, American fiction, American literature, American short story, abject, abjection, jouissance, semiotic, revolt, code_hero, gender studies, gender, Lost Generation UNSPECIFIED
Date of oral exam:	12 July 2024
Referee:	Name Academic Title Berressem, Hanjo Prof. Dr. Finzsch, Norbert Prof. Dr. Gruß, Susanne Prof. Dr.
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/74286