Nomad A Collection of Undergraduate Essays Written for Courses in the Program in Comparative Literature Volume 3, 2003–2004 Volume 4, 2005 Program in Comparative Literature University of Oregon EDITOR TOM DOLACK, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE UNDERGRADUATE EDITORS DAVID KENNY ANTHONY LUCERO EDITORIAL CONSULTANT ROGER ADKINS, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS AMANDA BIRD, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE KATY BRUNDAN, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE RACHEL HANAN, DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH SERENITY JOO, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE URSULA LINDQVIST, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE MARIA OLIVARES, ROMANCE LANGUAGES KATHRYN OLSEN, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE BLAIR ORFALL, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE ROBIN PAPPAS, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE CHRIS PICICCI, ROMANCE LANGUAGES ERIN ROKITA, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE ROSE SEIFERT, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE LAURA SELPH, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE EMILY TAYLOR, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE ELENA VILLA, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE KRISTI WALLACE, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE ANDREA WALTHER, ROMANCE LANGUAGES HONGMEI YU, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE COVER DESIGN ERIC PAYETTE, MULTIMEDIA DESIGN © 2005 University of Oregon Program in Comparative Literature All Rights Reserved Contents: Volume 3 Editor’s Introduction vi Spiritual Homelessness and Hope for the Renewed Epic: 8 Lukács and Tolstoy JENA KNUDSEN Epistolary Chastity 18 KRISTA JOHNSON The Stranger Figure in Etel Adnan’s Sitt Marie Rose 29 and Kerstin Ekman’s Blackwater ALI ABDURAHMAN ALMOASSIB MARMADUKE Animalization & Infantilization: 37 Colonialist Tropes in Outpost in Morocco and In Morocco MAGALI RABASA Radical Femininity: Following Feministic Transformation in 41 Hasegawa and Strindberg’s Modern Plays TRAVIS JOSEPH Cultural Ostracism and ‘White America’ 47 EMILY MATTSON Gwendolyn Brooks and Edith Södergran: 54 Examination of the Elegy KELSEA FEOLA Social v. Poetic Commentary: 61 A Comparison of the Pastoral in the Work of Cullen and Akhmatova AMY ZIARI Contents: Volume 4 Language, Love, and Poor Little Mike 71 CONCHITA WILCOXSON An Artichokal Mother 77 JULIA CUELLAR Memory and Repression 82 ANGELINA VENEZIA To Explore the ‘Uncanny’ 89 DANIEL WORDEN Theory Redoublé: 95 Poe’s “The Purloined Letter” as a Precursor to Psychoanalytic Criticism MICHAEL MCCANN The Conflict between Logic and Faith 104 ALLYSON GOSLING E.O. Wilson and S.J. Gould: 111 An analysis of the Importance of Consilience in the Study of Archetypes MEGAN WALDRAM Misery: An Author’s Experience of Reader-Response 117 ELIZABETH HENDRICKSON New Possibilities for the Gothic Heroine 124 MEGAN HOLMES The Function of Fiction 130 ANTHONY LUCERO Leda from the Perspective of Two Poets 137 CALLAN JANOWIEC Editor’s Introduction The editorial staff of NOMAD is Accepted papers were then handed proud to bring out this double issue in- back with comments to begin the revi- cluding essays written in Comparative sion process. As much as possible, this Literature and COLT cross-listed second stage is meant as an opportunity courses between fall 2002 and winter for COLT students not only to improve 2005. As the journal’s name suggests, a given piece of writing, but to improve the papers printed here reflect the no- as writers. Final drafts were then col- madic and wandering nature of com- lected and underwent final copyediting parative literature. The essays cover top- by the editorial staff. Out of over fifty ics from Edgar Allan Poe and psycho- submissions representing the best work analysis to the Russian poet Anna in COLT, we present here the top nine- Akhmatova to The Silence of the Lambs. teen. They range broadly in tone and ap- We would like to extend our thanks proach. And this is as it should be. The to all those who helped see this issue only common denominator is their qual- to light, either by submitting essays, ity and a shared disregard for en- reading submissions, copyediting or trenched cultural and disciplinary assistance with other administrative boundaries. They are a testament both tasks. The editorial staff, along with the to the quality of work being done by our rest of Comparative Literature, is proud undergraduates, as well as the breadth of the work included here and we look of research being done by our faculty forward to the work we will receive in and graduate students. the future. Essays excepted for publication were first submitted to NOMAD and TOM DOLACK read by at least three readers, at times NOMAD EDITOR including the nominating instructor. The editorial board than made a deci- sion as to whether to accept a given es- say (with or without revisions) or not. vi Volume 3: 2003/2004 SPIRITUAL HOMELESSNESS AND HOPE FOR THE RENEWED EPIC: LUKÁCS AND TOLSTOY Jena Knudsen n The Theory of the Novel, written between 1914-15 and published in I1920, Georg Lukács explores what he sees as the fundamental and genre- defining philosophical difference between the writers of epic and novelistic works. The philosophical gap between the two literary forms is most clearly reflected in the portrayal of their heroes, who emerge from the same moment in history as the writers do. The first half of The Theory of the Novel tells the story of mankind’s degeneration into a state of displacement and spiritual homelessness, reflective of the historico-philosophical world out of which the novelistic genre arose. As a Marxist heavily influenced by the outbreak of the First World War (11), Lukács understood this homelessness to be symptomatic of the alienation brought about by industrial society. Part two of his study, entitled “Attempt at a Typology of the Novel Form,” involves a consideration of several candidates, the last of which is Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Much of Lukács’ theory that spiritual homelessness is evidence of modern man’s dis- connection from a fulfilling belief system could have been drawn directly from War and Peace. The Theory of the Novel in fact solidifies into theory numerous points that Tolstoy’s characters make on the state of modernity. However, there is a point at which Lukács’ theory diverges from, or at least becomes incompat- ible with, Tolstoy’s own views. The aim of this paper is to explore this point of divergence and consider what it reveals about the respective political outlooks of the two writers, who shared a belief in the future possibility of a renewed epic worldview, but had different opinions on how this shift could be brought about. War and Peace originated from Tolstoy’s desire to write about the history of the Decembrist Revolution of 1825, and the role played by those Russian soldiers who followed Napoleon’s defeated troops back to France in 1812 and returned to Russia with new ideas about revolution. Tolstoy’s research led him back to the 8 LUKÁCS AND TOLSTOY prehistory of the Napoleonic War, and so War and Peace begins in 1805. In alternating domestic and military scenes, the characters’ lives develop alongside Russia’s political history. It is in the thoughts, words, and actions of the charac- ters Prince Andrey Bolkonsky and Count Pierre Bezuhov, as well as in Tolstoy’s own metatextual commentary on the difference between ancient and modern spirituality, that the reader of The Theory of the Novel finds the most parallels with Lukács’ argument. The basic supposition of Lukács’ theory is that in contrast to the epic hero, whose destiny is charted by real and tangible gods, the hero of the novel has neither spiritual direction nor security, and lives in a world detached from God. The temporal world of the novel (which is also to say the historical condition of the novelist) is ultimately dissatisfying and offers no real nourishment beyond the physical requirements of the body. Like the modern man, the modern pro- tagonist is a wanderer and a seeker of truth, forever driven by the desire to unite his soul with its home. This is the “essential aspiration” and “nostalgia of the soul” suffered by the novelistic hero, who has no choice but to blindly follow any course that he (however mistakenly) believes will lead to his spiritual fulfill- ment (87). This description fits Pierre perfectly, at least in his youth. Rich and directionless, he spends the majority of the novel alternately pursuing politics, philosophy, freemasonry, romantic relationships, and alcohol-induced oblivion, all in the attempt to understand the meaning of life and how one should live it. His constant obsession with this question is likened to the turning of a “screw that did not bite into anything” (Tolstoy 389). Pierre is also preoccupied with the mystery of his own identity and role in the universe, as seen in a semi-delirious moment during his captivity in which he laughs and raves out loud: “They keep me prisoner. Who is ‘me’? Me? Me—my immortal soul!” (1161). As Lukács points out, the act of questioning the meaning of life and of the self reveals a distinctly modern worldview. He quotes Novalis: “Philosophy is really home- sickness; it is the urge to be at home everywhere” (29). While Pierre basically typifies the homeless wanderer, Andrey illustrates another related and important part of Lukács’ theory of the novelistic hero, which is that even if he comes into contact with a higher meaning, or truth, he is 9 NOMAD incapable of successfully incorporating it into his life. In the modern world, unlike that of Homer, the spiritual and physical realms cannot coexist on the same plane. Andrey’s life, like that of Pierre, exemplifies the tension of existing in one world while searching for something outside of it. Andrey is a virtuous but troubled character who has numerous mystical experiences in which he feels his soul to be in direct communication with God. Each time, however, he is unable to retain the experience. The most dramatic example is the memorable scene at Austerlitz, in which Andrey is wounded on the battlefield and suddenly finds himself on his back, staring up at “the lofty sky, not clear, but still immeasurably lofty, with grey clouds creeping quietly over it” (Tolstoy 313).