Symbolic masters/semiotic slaves : subjectivity and subjection in Atwood, with reference to The circle game and Two-headed poems

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dc.contributor.authorBotha, Fourieen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-09-15T10:09:51Z
dc.date.available2015-09-15T10:09:51Z
dc.date.issued2008en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 82-86).en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation explores the construction of the subject via a relationship of power in two poem sequences, 'The circle game' and 'Two-headed poems', by Margaret Atwood. I argue that Atwood proposes a subject similar to the kind of subject found in psychoanalysis. Like the psychoanalytic subject, Atwood's subject is formed in relation to its other. This relation is essentially a power relation and can become unbalanced, forcing one of the two parties into a subjugated position. Atwood not only exposes these skewed relations of power, but also explores possible solutions for escaping or reconfiguring these relationships. The first chapter briefly discusses theories of the subject by Freud, Lacan and Kristeva. I use Hegel's dialectic between the 'master' and 'bondsman', and subsequent psychoanalytic and postcolonial applications of it, to examine the construction of the subject in terms of an other in Chapter 2. Postcolonial map theory and Kristeva's ideas on the abject are used to verbalize the divisions, but also the interactions, between the subject and its other as well as possibilities of escape. Chapter 3 demonstrates these power relationships, and their expression in cartographic terms, in 'The circle game'. In Chapter 4, I show how processes analogous to the eruption of poetic language into the symbolic order are described in the poetry. Even though these processes do not provide a clear-cut solution to the position of the subjected, their presence signals the possibility of renegotiating unbalanced relationships of power.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationBotha, F. (2008). <i>Symbolic masters/semiotic slaves : subjectivity and subjection in Atwood, with reference to The circle game and Two-headed poems</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13932en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationBotha, Fourie. <i>"Symbolic masters/semiotic slaves : subjectivity and subjection in Atwood, with reference to The circle game and Two-headed poems."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13932en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBotha, F. 2008. Symbolic masters/semiotic slaves : subjectivity and subjection in Atwood, with reference to The circle game and Two-headed poems. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Botha, Fourie AB - This dissertation explores the construction of the subject via a relationship of power in two poem sequences, 'The circle game' and 'Two-headed poems', by Margaret Atwood. I argue that Atwood proposes a subject similar to the kind of subject found in psychoanalysis. Like the psychoanalytic subject, Atwood's subject is formed in relation to its other. This relation is essentially a power relation and can become unbalanced, forcing one of the two parties into a subjugated position. Atwood not only exposes these skewed relations of power, but also explores possible solutions for escaping or reconfiguring these relationships. The first chapter briefly discusses theories of the subject by Freud, Lacan and Kristeva. I use Hegel's dialectic between the 'master' and 'bondsman', and subsequent psychoanalytic and postcolonial applications of it, to examine the construction of the subject in terms of an other in Chapter 2. Postcolonial map theory and Kristeva's ideas on the abject are used to verbalize the divisions, but also the interactions, between the subject and its other as well as possibilities of escape. Chapter 3 demonstrates these power relationships, and their expression in cartographic terms, in 'The circle game'. In Chapter 4, I show how processes analogous to the eruption of poetic language into the symbolic order are described in the poetry. Even though these processes do not provide a clear-cut solution to the position of the subjected, their presence signals the possibility of renegotiating unbalanced relationships of power. DA - 2008 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2008 T1 - Symbolic masters/semiotic slaves : subjectivity and subjection in Atwood, with reference to The circle game and Two-headed poems TI - Symbolic masters/semiotic slaves : subjectivity and subjection in Atwood, with reference to The circle game and Two-headed poems UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13932 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/13932
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationBotha F. Symbolic masters/semiotic slaves : subjectivity and subjection in Atwood, with reference to The circle game and Two-headed poems. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 2008 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13932en_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.otherEnglish in Literature and Modernityen_ZA
dc.titleSymbolic masters/semiotic slaves : subjectivity and subjection in Atwood, with reference to The circle game and Two-headed poemsen_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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