ORIENTATION TOWARDS HOME OR the BOUNDARIES of the NOMAD a Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornel
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ORIENTATION TOWARDS HOME OR THE BOUNDARIES OF THE NOMAD A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Dafna Hornike May 2013 © 2013 Dafna Hornike ORIENTATION TOWARDS HOME OR THE BOUNDARIES OF THE NOMAD Dafna Hornike, Ph. D. Cornell University 2013 What are the ways in which the subject is influenced by its location? How is subjectivity formed in relation to space and what are the different implications of changing that space? To answer these questions I analyze concepts of subjectivity and gender and their intersections with notions of space such as belonging, transgressing boundaries, and orientation. I explore this theoretical path through a comparative study of the transgressive writing of four salient authors from across Latin America: Clarice Lispector, Diamela Eltit, Carmen Boullosa and Ana Clavel. My dissertation is therefore an analysis of the multiple connections between subjectivity and space, especially focused on gendered and corporal aspects as they manifest in contemporary Latin American literature. Feminist and queer theorists such as Judith Butler, Sarah Ahmed, Kathryn Bon-Stockton, Rosi Braidotti and Elizabeth Grosz, support my analysis in achieving new understandings of the intersections of the three vectors that guide me- space, subjectivity and gender. Throughout my four chapters I analyze the relations between subject and the space that surrounds it, while coining a new term- -subjective space. "Subjective space" is a hybrid term that allows me to look both at the way the subject is influenced by its location, and how, in turn, it is spatially constructed. Can there be a common thread to the way these theories and literary texts explore the formation of the subject and its constitution in space? What can be gained by thinking of this constitution in spatial terms? Following this path of analysis will lead me to a new theoretical location, where I hope to gain insight into the centrality of space to the subject and the subject’s impacts on space. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Born in a small town in the Negev desert in Israel, Dafna was a voracious reader, going through all the books she could find at the local public libraries. Her appetite for stories was nourished by her grandmother's tales of a childhood in faraway Iraq. After a seven month journey in Latin America, Dafna went on to complete a major in Romance Studies and Gender Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, from where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2005. She pursued her graduate studies at the University Of Calgary, Canada at the department of French, Italian, and Spanish, from where she graduated at 2007. After moving to Ithaca, New York she studied at Cornell University at the department of Romance Studies, with a minor in Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She received her second MA from Cornell University at 2010, and her PhD in 2013. iii For my best travelling companion, from now on we are no longer alone iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the assistance of many individuals, and I am delighted to be able to acknowledge their contributions. First and foremost, my work is forever indebted to my incredible grandmother, her nomadic stories that taught me so much, and her quiet and strong presence in my life. In spite of the geographical distance between us, and although she will never be able to read this work, she is part of every thought in it. Many strong women from different institutions across the world have pointed me towards this road. Ruth Fine from the Hebrew University has been and still is a constant source of support in the treacherous waters of academia. Elizabeth Montes- Garcés from the University of Calgary was there at the right moment to open for me so many theoretical doors. Ending up in Ithaca had a symbolic meaning I could not have foreseen at the time--my nomadic path has led me to the best guidance for the journey. I cannot thank enough my relentless committee for their contribution to my work. I stumbled upon Masha Raskolnikov's “Transgender and Transsexuality” course in my first semester in Cornell, wide-eyed and thrilled to have found someone who could guide me in what was already a persistent interest. Being able to share my thoughts with her, knowing she will inexorably call me on any inaccuracies, has been a source of strength. Edmundo Paz-Soldán remains an inspiration with his incredible passion for literature, whether inside the classroom or in friendly conversation. I know some of our conversations will stay with me for a long time, especially when we shared our admiration for Lispector over a cup of coffee, a significant milestone in my v writing journey. Debra Castillo has been a guiding light even before I came to Cornell. Meeting her in person in her office in Morill Hall for the first time all those years ago was a first step of many on the path that lead me here. I remain awed by her incredible ability to gently guide, support, and push me in the right direction, allowing me all the liberty I needed in my writing while not letting me go too far astray from the path I had chosen. Debbie has taught me so much about how to orient myself, how to discover what it is that pulls me and how to tell which direction is the right, or the left one. I have benefitted so much by being able to count on her able support, as well as on her incredible and creative cooking. I am inspired by her guidance and can only hope I will be able to offer the same kind of orientation to others at some point in the future. Most of all, I would like to thank my partner, Oshrit Zmora. Mi amor, your contribution to this work is indescribable. You are my first reader, the one who knows what it is I am trying to say, and how I can improve it. With you I can share my most tentative ideas as I know you will not only understand me, but will help me improve them. Through our transatlantic relationship I learned so much about how space works, about homes and belongings, how to make a home even within the uncertainty in which we currently live. You have taught me so much about being close in spite of geographical distance, and I am forever thankful for you being part of my life. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Biographical Sketch…………………………………………………………………...iii Dedication………………………………………………………………….………….iv Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………..…………v Introduction: Mapping Subjective Space………………………………………………1 Chapter 1: Into Subjective Space in The Passion According to G.H………...……….20 Chapter 2: El cuarto mundo, Searching for Boundaries; Can the Subject be Double? (De/Forming the Subject)………………………………...………………...…63 Chapter 3: Why would you ever want to leave home- Antes and the safety of enclosure……………………………………………………………………..109 Chapter 4: Cuerpo Náufrago, Orienting towards the Boundaries of Home, the Body as Limit…………………………..……………………………………………..157 Conclusion: Subjectifying Space, Spatializing the Subject ……...…………………193 Bibliography ……………………………………………….………………………..207 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1…………………………………………………..……...…..………………146 Figure 2…………………………………………………………...…..……………..172 Figure 3……………………………………………………...………..…..…………175 Figure 4…………………………………………………….……..…………..……..178 Figure 5…………………………………………………….………..………………179 Figure 6……………………………………………………….……….…………….180 viii Pois existe a trajetória, The path is wiser than the wanderer. e a trajetória não é apenas um modo de Once you have found it don't forsake it, ir. A trajetória somos nós mesmos. for it is always right. (P 176) (Azaria Alon) Mapping Subjective Space Walking in an unfamiliar place makes you painfully aware of space and your relation to it. One might feel disoriented, look for signs and routes to take, or experience the liberty of not belonging, free of a specific (local) set of social standards. Putting one foot in front of the other, you search for the right turn, the bus stop you need, the entrance to the building--where is it you needed to go again? Unfamiliarity with a place, being a visitor, a stranger, a newcomer, a foreigner, has a disorientating effect, as if you were constantly trying to fit yourself into the space that surrounds you. This is the moment to take out your map, that two-dimensional record of layered information that is supposed to tell you how, when, and where to go. Whether surrounded by desert cliffs and rocky ravines where forgotten histories lie, or by concrete and glassy walls of high-rises encasing indifferent strangers, you try to map yourself into space. Whether it is a worn out piece of paper you consulted many times before, marked with dust and sweat, or the beaming surface of your smart phone that keeps insisting you are still ten blocks behind, the map feels like your only recourse. Finding yourself on the map, placing your imaginary position in space in relation to recorded information puts you in constant contact with an invisible multitude of others. You are here, on the corner of this street and that avenue, on the path to that peak, someone has been here before, there is a road, you are not lost. Cartographies carry the weight of others, always putting one in relation to other travelers, offer a situated knowledge of sociality. Mapping our location is a way to find paths into space, to conceptualize our location, to belong. 1 Why is positionality so crucial to one's feeling of security, or lack of it, and how is it that the places in our itinerary have such an effect on us? What is it that makes space such a primordial part of the way we understand ourselves? What are the numerous, sometimes contradictory ways in which space informs our very being, and how can we conceptualize the relationship between subject and space? My work is a constant effort to decipher these enigmas, a journey that is itself the goal.