The reader's quest : reading and the constitution of meaning in five novels

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dc.contributor.advisorCoetzee, John Men_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSaville, Juliaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-14T06:52:44Z
dc.date.available2016-11-14T06:52:44Z
dc.date.issued1984en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn this thesis, I attempt to show how the concept of reading as literary interpretation has been influenced by the insights of the psychoanalyst and theorist Jacques Lacan (1901-1981). Broadly speaking, I call for a revised view of the role of the reader and the act of reading in the light of arguments such as the following: firstly, that the linguistic subject is "split" rather than "autonomous"; secondly, that since language is a representational rather than transparent medium, "truth" can only ever be regarded as partial and irreducibly open to revision; and thirdly, that reading as an interpretive activity arises from the unconscious Desire to resolve the sense of incompleteness which language acquisition produces in the linguistic subject. Following the lead of various interpreters of Lacan's theory and psychoanalytic procedure, I offer an introductory outline of his thought and its relevance to literary theory and criticism. Then in the four chapters which follow, I attempt to demonstrate this relevance through readings of a selection of novels. In the first chapter, I come to the conclusion that reading should be viewed less as a quest after "the truth" of the text, than a quest to discover what "the truth" must disregard in order to be "the truth." In the second chapter, I conclude that narration is an effect of reading, that the relationship of the narrator and the reader is therefore supplementary, and that the notion of literary "truth" is established by consensus. In the third chapter, I conclude that the attempt to satisfy Desire by an attainment of a "full disclosure" of "truth" or "meaning" must result in a loss of meaning per se. Finally, in the fourth chapter, I attempt to synthesize the conclusions of the earlier chapters in the argument that the reader is potentially both the unveiler of the authorial unconscious and the unwitting performer of the conflict of meaning dramatized in the discourse of narrative.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationSaville, J. (1984). <i>The reader's quest : reading and the constitution of meaning in five novels</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22511en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationSaville, Julia. <i>"The reader's quest : reading and the constitution of meaning in five novels."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 1984. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22511en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationSaville, J. 1984. The reader's quest : reading and the constitution of meaning in five novels. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Saville, Julia AB - In this thesis, I attempt to show how the concept of reading as literary interpretation has been influenced by the insights of the psychoanalyst and theorist Jacques Lacan (1901-1981). Broadly speaking, I call for a revised view of the role of the reader and the act of reading in the light of arguments such as the following: firstly, that the linguistic subject is "split" rather than "autonomous"; secondly, that since language is a representational rather than transparent medium, "truth" can only ever be regarded as partial and irreducibly open to revision; and thirdly, that reading as an interpretive activity arises from the unconscious Desire to resolve the sense of incompleteness which language acquisition produces in the linguistic subject. Following the lead of various interpreters of Lacan's theory and psychoanalytic procedure, I offer an introductory outline of his thought and its relevance to literary theory and criticism. Then in the four chapters which follow, I attempt to demonstrate this relevance through readings of a selection of novels. In the first chapter, I come to the conclusion that reading should be viewed less as a quest after "the truth" of the text, than a quest to discover what "the truth" must disregard in order to be "the truth." In the second chapter, I conclude that narration is an effect of reading, that the relationship of the narrator and the reader is therefore supplementary, and that the notion of literary "truth" is established by consensus. In the third chapter, I conclude that the attempt to satisfy Desire by an attainment of a "full disclosure" of "truth" or "meaning" must result in a loss of meaning per se. Finally, in the fourth chapter, I attempt to synthesize the conclusions of the earlier chapters in the argument that the reader is potentially both the unveiler of the authorial unconscious and the unwitting performer of the conflict of meaning dramatized in the discourse of narrative. DA - 1984 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1984 T1 - The reader's quest : reading and the constitution of meaning in five novels TI - The reader's quest : reading and the constitution of meaning in five novels UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22511 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/22511
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationSaville J. The reader's quest : reading and the constitution of meaning in five novels. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 1984 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22511en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of English Language and Literatureen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherLiterary Studiesen_ZA
dc.titleThe reader's quest : reading and the constitution of meaning in five novelsen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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