Re-Thinking the Language of Pain in the Works of Marguerite Duras and Frida Kahlo
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Re-thinking the Language of Pain in the Works of Marguerite Duras and Frida Kahlo Regina F. Bartolone A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English and Comparative Literature. Chapel Hill 2006 Approved by: Dr. Martine Antle (advisor) Dr. Marsha Collins (reader) Dr. Maria DeGuzmán (reader) Dr. Dominque Fisher (reader) Dr. Diane Leonard (reader) Abstract Regina F.Bartolone Re-Thinking the Language of Pain in the Works of Marguerite Duras and Frida Kahlo (Under the direction of Dr. Martine Antle) This dissertation is a cross-cultural examination of the creation and the socio- cultural implications of the languages of pain in the works of French author, Marguerite Duras and Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo. Recent studies have determined that discursive communication is insufficient in expressing one’s pain. In particular, Elaine Scarry maintains that pain destroys language and that its victims must rely on the vocabulary of other cultural spheres in order to express their pain. The problem is that neither Scarry nor any other Western pain scholar can provide an alternative to discursive language to express pain. This study claims that both artists must work beyond their own cultural registers in order to give their pain a language. In the process of expressing their suffering, Duras and Kahlo subvert traditional literary and artistic conventions. Through challenging literary and artistic forms, they begin to re-think and ultimately re-define the way their readers and viewers understand feminine subjectivity, colonial and wartime occupation, personal tragedy, the female body, Christianity and Western hegemony. ii To my Mom and Dad. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my director, Dr.Martine Antle, for believing in this project. I would also like to thank my committee members, Maria DeGuzmán, Marsha Collins, Dominique Fisher, and Diane Leonard, whose insights and contributions have been invaluable to the outcome and future of this dissertation. Heather and Carrie, the friends with whom I began this journey, have been my home away from home for the past eight years. I want to thank them for their faith in my friendship and for teaching me the value of cocktail hour. Amy, whose warmth equals her wisdom, helped me to find my equilibrium during this process. Without David’s generous spirit and computer know-how, this dissertation would’ve remained unsubmitted. I want to express my love and gratitude to my friend Bill. His unflagging faith in my life and work continues to amaze and inspire me. I would not have earned this degree without the unconditional love and support of my first teachers, my parents, Aldo and Vicki. My father continues to teach me to live in the moment and my mother gives me the courage to be myself. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures .............................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1. Introduction to the Dissertation.............................................................................. 1 I. General Introduction ...................................................................................... 1 II. Defining Pain: Past and Present.................................................................... 3 III. Pain and Testimony................................................................................... 13 IV. Presentation of the Artists: Literary and Pictorial Testimonies of Pain.... 16 i. Marguerite Duras ...................................................................................... 16 ii. Frida Kahlo .............................................................................................. 24 iii. The Pictorial Testimony.......................................................................... 24 iv. Frida Kahlo, The Painter......................................................................... 31 2. Marguerite Duras: The Expression of Pain and the Feminine Subject ................ 39 I. The Young Girl/Old Woman in L’amant ..................................................... 39 i. Summary of the Novel .............................................................................. 39 ii. Sex and Death .......................................................................................... 43 iii. The Sexualized Body: Pain and Jouissance ............................................ 49 iv. Conclusion............................................................................................... 51 II. Madame L in « La douleur » ...................................................................... 54 v i. Summary of the Story ............................................................................... 54 ii. Madame L and the Fossé Noir ................................................................. 56 iii. The Return of Robert L........................................................................... 60 iv. Conclusion............................................................................................... 62 III. Anne-Marie Stretter and La mendiante in India Song .............................. 64 i. Summary of the Screenplay ...................................................................... 64 ii. Introduction to the Examination of India Song ........................................ 64 iii. Anne-Marie and La mendiante : Situating Vision and Voice in the Language of Pain......................................................................................................... 66 iv. Rituals of Mourning................................................................................ 70 v. Conclusion................................................................................................ 73 IV. Suzanne in Un barrage contre le Pacifique .............................................. 75 i. Summary of the Novel .............................................................................. 75 ii. Suzanne’s Encounters .............................................................................. 77 ii a. Introduction to the Encounters ........................................................... 77 ii b. Monsieur Jo and the Phonograph....................................................... 79 ii c. Suzanne in the Haut Quartier ............................................................ 83 iii. Conclusion .............................................................................................. 86 V. Jacques Hold in Le ravissement de Lol V. Stein ......................................... 88 i. Summary of the Novel .............................................................................. 88 ii. Jacques Hold’s Role as Narrator.............................................................. 89 iii. Gazing and Inventing.............................................................................. 94 iv. Conclusion............................................................................................... 97 vi 3. Frida Kahlo: Images of Pain I. Background.................................................................................................. 99 II. Painting and Theatricality......................................................................... 102 i. Artaud: Painting, Theatricality, and Cruelty........................................... 102 ii. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 109 III. Henry Ford Hospital ............................................................................... 111 i. Cultural and Biographical Background................................................... 111 ii. Henry Ford Hospital .............................................................................. 114 iii. Conclusion ............................................................................................ 120 IV. The Two Fridas and Tree of Hope .......................................................... 121 i Conclusion................................................................................................ 127 V. My Birth : Tlazoteotl and the Mater Dolorosa .......................................... 130 i. Conclusion............................................................................................... 132 VI. The Broken Column ................................................................................ 134 i. Conclusion............................................................................................... 136 4. A Comparison of the Languages of Pain in the Works of Marguerite Duras and Frida Kahlo .................................................................................................... 139 Bibliography........................................................................................................... 164 vii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES 1. ANGUISH………………………………………………………156 2. THE DAUGHTER’S OF LOT………………………………....157 3. HENRY FORD HOSPITAL……………………………………158 4. THE TWO FRIDAS…………………………………………....159 5. LA PIETÀ………………………………………………………160 6. TREE OF HOPE………………………………………………..161 7. MY BIRTH……………………………………………………..162 8. THE BROKEN COLUMN……………………………………..163 viii 1. Introduction to the Dissertation I. General Introduction: Recent criticism on pain acknowledges that it is an experience that is resistant to discursive expression. That is to say that coherent, articulate language fails to adequately exemplify and relate the meaning and feeling