DOCSLIB.ORG

Sacrifice in Suburbia: American Novels As Troubled Tragedies

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Sacrifice in Suburbia: American Novels As Troubled Tragedies Sacrifice in Suburbia: American Novels as Troubled Tragedies Carly Janette Norman Osborn Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English The University of Adelaide September 2015 Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................iii Declaration .................................................................................................................................................v Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. vi Introduction ...............................................................................................................................................1 1. Critical Contexts ................................................................................................................................9 1.1. Existing Scholarship .................................................................................................... 9 1.2. Girardian Theory ....................................................................................................... 40 2. The American Dream .................................................................................................................... 73 2.1. A Mythical History..................................................................................................... 73 2.2. Death of a Salesman: Troubling Tragedy ............................................................... 94 3. The Virgin Suicides: Unravelling Fantasies .............................................................................. 109 4. The Ice Storm: Excess and Irony .............................................................................................. 137 5. Revolutionary Road: Plays and Failures .................................................................................... 182 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 232 Works Cited ........................................................................................................................................... 242 ii Abstract In this thesis I enlist the mimetic theory of René Girard to argue that three twentieth-century American novels — Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides, Rick Moody’s The Ice Storm, and Richard Yates’s Revolutionary Road — are tragic texts. I demonstrate that these novels are participating in a tradition begun in sacrificial ritual and myth, in which a victim is blamed for a crisis and sacrificed for the benefit of a troubled community. I then argue that the tragic sacrifice is subverted and complicated by various textual means, subcategorising the novels as ‘anti-tragedies’ that present the characteristic features of tragedy but problematise its cathartic effects. To ground my analysis, I establish an understanding of the American Dream as tragic, by examining three non-fiction texts on the Dream. I then briefly consider Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman as a play that deploys tragedy as discourse about the American Dream, before moving to a critical evaluation of the three novels. I make a case for the legitimacy of considering the novel as part of the tradition of tragedy. I find that each novel contains a plethora of tragic tropes—those thematic features of ritual and myth identified by Girard, the treatment of which is significant in terms of cathartic effect. I argue that the novel has a unique capacity to problematise its own narrative and thus function as a ‘self conscious’ tragedy, and that this self-consciousness makes sacrifice the subject of the text rather than a structural element within it. Girard’s mimetic theory has been criticised for its lack of attention to gender and to the experiences of women. My analysis of the significance of the female bodies in Eugenides’, Moody’s, and Yates’s novels extends Girardian scholarship in its consideration of women as scapegoats, and pays particular attention to gender in ways that Girard himself has not. I iii present evidence that the narrative attitude towards select female bodies in the three novels is directly relevant to their eligibility as Girardian scapegoats. Whereas previous Girardian scholarship has analysed novels for their treatment of one or more aspects of mimetic theory, such as mimetic desire or scapegoating, my thesis is the first work to analyse modern novels as tragedies: that is, as narratives in dialogue with the entire story-arc of ritual and myth. In doing so, my thesis strengthens the Girardian claim that tragedies are sacrificial scapegoat-rituals in narrative form. I then take Girard’s minor remarks about the ‘anti-mythical’ nature of modern tragedies, and extend this speculation into a detailed analysis of how such modern tragedies enact their anti-tragic subversions. iv Declaration I certify that this work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in my name in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. In addition, I certify that no part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission in my name for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of the University of Adelaide and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint award of this degree. I give consent to this copy of my thesis when deposited in the University Library, being made available for loan and photocopying, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. The author acknowledges that copyright of published works contained within this thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of those works. I also give permission for the digital version of my thesis to be made available on the web, via the University’s digital research repository, the Library Search and also through web search engines, unless permission has been granted by the University to restrict access for a period of time. ________________________ Carly Osborn September 2015 v Acknowledgements I am very grateful for the help and support of my supervisors, Dr Lucy Potter and Dr Mandy Treagus, and my interim supervisor Dr Heather Kerr. Your expertise and intelligence helped so much to refine my ideas and to clarify their articulation. Thank you. Thanks to the members of the Australian Girard Seminar and the Colloquium on Violence and Religion, for many outstanding conferences that greatly enriched my thinking, and for the warm and supportive scholarly community. Thanks to my wonderful husband Adam, and my family and friends, for all their love and encouragement, and for listening to me rant about sacrificial ritual at dinner tables. Finally, my gratitude to the luminous René Girard (1923-2015), who passed away peacefully the same day this volume was prepared, and to whose legacy it offers a humble contribution. Vale. vi This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my beloved grandparents Jean Margaret Norman (1920 – 2012) & Frederic George Norman (1923 – 2013) Introduction George Steiner pronounced the death of tragedy in 1961. In a modern world without gods and heroes, he declared, tragedy cannot survive (The Death of Tragedy 10). He defended this view in 2004, maintaining that modernity is hostile to every element that is necessary to tragedy.1 But despite such notices of its demise, tragedy refuses to depart the stage. In fact, in 2014 the Publications of the Modern Language Association of America dedicated a special issue to tragedy, with an editorial titled ‘The Urgency of Tragedy Now’. In it, Helene Foley and Jean Howard suggest that Steiner’s ‘nostalgia’ for pre-modernity ‘blinded him to the possibilities of the present’: that tragedy is not only alive but vibrantly present as ‘a resource with which to think, feel, and perform the urgencies of the times’ (618, 617). This special issue presents a feast of scholarly perspectives on tragedy, as well as interviews with directors and playwrights, and recounts of modern productions that make plain the energy and relevance of tragedy today. From tales of performances of a re-fashioned Sophocles’ Antigone in post-dictatorship Uruguay, to a comparison of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America with Sophocles’s Oedipus at Colonus, to analyses of new works such as those by Carol Churchill, the issue shows that tragedy is a living and evolving genre. Yet nowhere in this special edition is tragedy considered, or even mentioned, in the novel form. The editors mention ‘tragedy as a written discourse’ but only to differentiate dramatic scripts from stage performances. If tragedy is a vital, energetic genre in dialogue with the urgencies of modern times, why do we not look for it in that essentially modern genre, the novel? The PMLA editors note that their edition was necessarily selective, though in expressing their 1 In the 2004 article Steiner grudgingly allows for some modern texts to be categorised as ‘tragedies’ (his inverted commas), if they pass his definitive litmus test: ‘ontological homelessness… is what tragedy is about’ (“‘Tragedy,’ Reconsidered” 2). He still, however, defends his original thesis, and reserves the classification of true or ‘absolute tragedy’
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Race and Membership in American History: the Eugenics Movement
    Race and Membership in American History: The Eugenics Movement Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation, Inc. Brookline, Massachusetts Eugenicstextfinal.qxp 11/6/2006 10:05 AM Page 2 For permission to reproduce the following photographs, posters, and charts in this book, grateful acknowledgement is made to the following: Cover: “Mixed Types of Uncivilized Peoples” from Truman State University. (Image #1028 from Cold Spring Harbor Eugenics Archive, http://www.eugenics archive.org/eugenics/). Fitter Family Contest winners, Kansas State Fair, from American Philosophical Society (image #94 at http://www.amphilsoc.org/ library/guides/eugenics.htm). Ellis Island image from the Library of Congress. Petrus Camper’s illustration of “facial angles” from The Works of the Late Professor Camper by Thomas Cogan, M.D., London: Dilly, 1794. Inside: p. 45: The Works of the Late Professor Camper by Thomas Cogan, M.D., London: Dilly, 1794. 51: “Observations on the Size of the Brain in Various Races and Families of Man” by Samuel Morton. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, vol. 4, 1849. 74: The American Philosophical Society. 77: Heredity in Relation to Eugenics, Charles Davenport. New York: Henry Holt &Co., 1911. 99: Special Collections and Preservation Division, Chicago Public Library. 116: The Missouri Historical Society. 119: The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, 1882; John Singer Sargent, American (1856-1925). Oil on canvas; 87 3/8 x 87 5/8 in. (221.9 x 222.6 cm.). Gift of Mary Louisa Boit, Julia Overing Boit, Jane Hubbard Boit, and Florence D. Boit in memory of their father, Edward Darley Boit, 19.124.
    [Show full text]
  • Write Yourself As the Antihero
    Write yourself as the Antihero What is an Antihero and why do we love them? The best way to define an Antihero is to define what an anti-hero isn’t. An Antihero is not the traditional hero. A hero often has no flaws. Yes, Superman has his kryptonite, but if it were not for that, nothing would stop him. Antiheroes are more flawed than heroes simply because they are malleable and human. And, typically, their greatest flaw is what makes them relatable to readers and fun to write. Is an Antihero a Villain? Often people confuse the Antihero with the villain. Because Antiheroes might lie, cheat, murder, and steal, some say the line between the two and distinction might be subjective. Experts say that the stark difference between the Antihero and the villain is their end goal. Villains often just want to watch the world burn, or they are only out for themselves. Antiheroes usually have a justification for their choices or a noble objective that the reader can get on board with. You can make your character (YOU) both likeable and unlikeable by presenting a story that generates empathy and justifies their/your choices. Examples of Antiheroes The three types: Morally Grey Is Jack Sparrow a protagonist? (Why or why not?) Choices not favored by reader. Still likeable in his own right. Can be humorous if done right. Nonthreatening Character arc of Tyrian Lannister Low expectations from other characters. Little desire to be effectual. This changes over the course of the story arc. Villainous Walter White vs Lisbeth Salander Someone who does things what we cannot/ would not/might not do.
    [Show full text]
  • Study of Caste
    H STUDY OF CASTE BY P. LAKSHMI NARASU Author of "The Essence of Buddhism' MADRAS K. V. RAGHAVULU, PUBLISHER, 367, Mint Street. Printed by V. RAMASWAMY SASTRULU & SONS at the " VAVILLA " PRESS, MADRAS—1932. f All Rights Reservtd by th* Author. To SIR PITTI THY AG A ROY A as an expression of friendship and gratitude. FOREWORD. This book is based on arfcioles origiDally contributed to a weekly of Madras devoted to social reform. At the time of their appearance a wish was expressed that they might be given a more permanent form by elaboration into a book. In fulfilment of this wish I have revised those articles and enlarged them with much additional matter. The book makes no pretentions either to erudition or to originality. Though I have not given references, I have laid under contribution much of the literature bearing on the subject of caste. The book is addressed not to savants, but solely to such mea of common sense as have been drawn to consider the ques­ tion of caste. He who fights social intolerance, slavery and injustice need offer neither substitute nor constructive theory. Caste is a crippli^jg disease. The physicians duty is to guard against diseasb or destroy it. Yet no one considers the work of the physician as negative. The attainment of liberty and justice has always been a negative process. With­ out rebelling against social institutions and destroying custom there can never be the tree exercise of liberty and justice. A physician can, however, be of no use where there is no vita­ lity.
    [Show full text]
  • Crossmedia Adaptation and the Development of Continuity in the Dc Animated Universe
    “INFINITE EARTHS”: CROSSMEDIA ADAPTATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTINUITY IN THE DC ANIMATED UNIVERSE Alex Nader A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2015 Committee: Jeff Brown, Advisor Becca Cragin © 2015 Alexander Nader All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Jeff Brown, Advisor This thesis examines the process of adapting comic book properties into other visual media. I focus on the DC Animated Universe, the popular adaptation of DC Comics characters and concepts into all-ages programming. This adapted universe started with Batman: The Animated Series and comprised several shows on multiple networks, all of which fit into a shared universe based on their comic book counterparts. The adaptation of these properties is heavily reliant to intertextuality across DC Comics media. The shared universe developed within the television medium acted as an early example of comic book media adapting the idea of shared universes, a process that has been replicated with extreme financial success by DC and Marvel (in various stages of fruition). I address the process of adapting DC Comics properties in television, dividing it into “strict” or “loose” adaptations, as well as derivative adaptations that add new material to the comic book canon. This process was initially slow, exploding after the first series (Batman: The Animated Series) changed networks and Saturday morning cartoons flourished, allowing for more opportunities for producers to create content. References, crossover episodes, and the later series Justice League Unlimited allowed producers to utilize this shared universe to develop otherwise impossible adaptations that often became lasting additions to DC Comics publishing.
    [Show full text]
  • The Portrait of Political Discrimination Against Black People in America in 1960S As Reflected in the Novel Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
    Prologue : Journal of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies © Vol.5 No.1, February 2019 ISSN -p: 2460-4641 http://prologue.sastra.uniba-bpn.ac.id/index.php/jurnal_prologue/index THE PORTRAIT OF POLITICAL DISCRIMINATION AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE IN AMERICA IN 1960S AS REFLECTED IN THE NOVEL GO SET A WATCHMAN BY HARPER LEE ABSTRACT Anggita Nindya Sari1, Siti Hafsah2, Wahyuni3 There are objectives that become the purpose of this research: 1) to describe the factors cause the political discrimination against black people in America in 1960s as reflected in the novel Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee and 2) to find the strategy of political discrimination against black people in America in 1960s portray in the novel Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee. The theory used in this research is the Sociology of Literature and hegemony theory by Gramsci about dominance and direction/leadership and discrimination as supporting theory. The methodology employed is qualitative research which the researcher aims to study the the issue of political discrimination and the factors cause the political discrimination. In the process of collecting data, the researcher collected from primary and secondary data. The primary data is the story and relation issue in the novel which about the factors causing political discrimination and the strategy of political discrimination against black people in America in 1960s. The researcher concludes that the issue reflected in the novel, there are some factors causing the political discrimination against black people, they are dominance and direction/leadership which is the phase of hegemony. The strategy of political discrimination against black people are discrimination in accepting the equality as the opportunity in part of government agency, discrimination in sharing the responsibility of citizenship and discrimination of the rights to vote.
    [Show full text]
  • Plot? What Is Structure?
    Novel Structure What is plot? What is structure? • Plot is a series of interconnected events in which every occurrence has a specific purpose. A plot is all about establishing connections, suggesting causes, and and how they relate to each other. • Structure (also known as narrative structure), is the overall design or layout of your story. Narrative Structure is about both these things: Story Plot • The content of a story • The form used to tell the story • Raw materials of dramatic action • How the story is told and in what as they might be described in order chronological order • About how, and at what stages, • About trying to determine the key the key conflicts are set up and conflicts, main characters, setting resolved and events • “How” and “when” • “Who,” “what,” and “where” Story Answers These Questions 1. Where is the story set? 2. What event starts the story? 3. Who are the main characters? 4. What conflict(s) do they face? What is at stake? 5. What happens to the characters as they face this conflict? 6. What is the outcome of this conflict? 7. What is the ultimate impact on the characters? Plot Answers These Questions 8. How and when is the major conflict in the story set up? 9. How and when are the main characters introduced? 10.How is the story moved along so that the characters must face the central conflict? 11.How and when is the major conflict set up to propel them to its conclusion? 12.How and when does the story resolve most of the major conflicts set up at the outset? Basic Linear Story: Beginning, Middle & End Ancient (335 B.C.)Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle said that every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
    [Show full text]
  • Short Story Structure Lesson 1 Finding Your Reader and Their Emotional
    Short Story Structure Jodi Henley from Concept to Upload October 2012 Short story Structure Lesson 1 Finding your reader and their emotional triggers Good morning! This has rapidly grown to become my favorite workshop because I actually use it. While I firmly believe you should follow your heart and write your passion—I believe in getting paid or if you're not interested in the money, increasing your readership. Because you're here, I've made a few assumptions. 1. You're open to connecting with your reader. Some writers produce wonderful stories that make them happy, get across a message they're passionate about, or explore variations on theme, but aren't particularly concerned about audience. I'm not saying that you need to compromise your vision, but to connect with a greater number of readers you need to know who your readers are, what they want, and how to tie that into what you're writing. Writing stories without taking your reader into consideration will still get you readers, but the sheer number of viewers who will watch a summer blockbuster hit, or see something playing in their neighborhood movie theater are on a different scale from the people who will find an indie theater and see an art flick from the Sundance Festival. It works that way in stories, too. You need to be accessible to the people you're targeting. The bad word—target. Why do you have to target? Why can't you just write? Where are the five easy pieces you need to know to get your story the readers it deserves? Whether you consciously think about it or not, targeting is already part of your writing.
    [Show full text]
  • PC Is Back in South Park: Framing Social Issues Through Satire
    Colloquy Vol. 12, Fall 2016, pp. 101-114 PC Is Back in South Park: Framing Social Issues through Satire Alex Dejean Abstract This study takes an extensive look at the television program South Park episode “Stunning and Brave.” There is limited research that explores the use of satire to create social discourse on concepts related to political correctness. I use framing theory as a primary variable to understand the messages “Stunning and Brave” attempts to convey. Framing theory originated from the theory of agenda setting. Agenda setting explains how media depictions affect how people think about the world. Framing is an aspect of agenda setting that details the organization and structure of a narrative or story. Framing is such an important variable to agenda setting that research on framing has become its own field of study. Existing literature of framing theory, comedy, and television has shown how audiences perceive issues once they have been exposed to media messages. The purpose of this research will review relevant literature explored in this area to examine satirical criticism on the social issue of political correctness. It seems almost unnecessary to point out the effect media has on us every day. Media is a broad term for the collective entities and structures through which messages are created and transmitted to an audience. As noted by Semmel (1983), “Almost everyone agrees that the mass media shape the world around us” (p. 718). The media tells us what life is or what we need for a better life. We have been bombarded with messages about what is better.
    [Show full text]
  • Confronting Academic Snobbery
    AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW Confronting academic snobbery Brian Martin & Majken Jul Sørensen University of Wollongong Snobbery in academia can involve academics, general staff, students and members of the public, and can be based on degrees, disciplines, cliques and other categories. Though snobbery is seldom treated as a significant issue, it can have damaging effects on morale, research and public image. Strategies against snobbery include avoidance, private feedback, formal complaints and public challenges. Introduction next to them in the lunch queue. Academics in the social sciences or humanities who work together with natural Story 1: scientists soon realise that what they are doing is not con- Academic speaking to a member of the public: ‘What sidered real science, just as sociologists using qualitative would you know about it?’ methods are treated as less scientific than those who use statistics. Scholars on short-term appointments are poten- Story 2: tial targets of academic snobbery from those with perma- A prominent researcher visited a university to give a nent jobs (DeSantis, 2011). public lecture. When a local teacher dared to ask a question, the visitor responded, ‘That was the wrong In this article, the authors introduce the topic of aca- question, from the wrong person, at the wrong time. demic snobbery, using stories to illustrate its different Better luck next time.’ forms. The authors’ special interest is in the seldom-inves- It is not unusual to hear people who have encountered tigated challenge of how to expose and oppose academic academics and the university environment telling about snobbery. the scorn coming down at them from above.
    [Show full text]
  • Conclusion 60
    Being Black, Being British, Being Ghanaian: Second Generation Ghanaians, Class, Identity, Ethnicity and Belonging Yvette Twumasi-Ankrah UCL PhD 1 Declaration I, Yvette Twumasi-Ankrah confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Table of Contents Declaration 2 List of Tables 8 Abstract 9 Impact statement 10 Acknowledgements 12 Chapter 1 - Introduction 13 Ghanaians in the UK 16 Ghanaian Migration and Settlement 19 Class, status and race 21 Overview of the thesis 22 Key questions 22 Key Terminology 22 Summary of the chapters 24 Chapter 2 - Literature Review 27 The Second Generation – Introduction 27 The Second Generation 28 The second generation and multiculturalism 31 Black and British 34 Second Generation – European 38 US Studies – ethnicity, labels and identity 40 Symbolic ethnicity and class 46 Ghanaian second generation 51 Transnationalism 52 Second Generation Return migration 56 Conclusion 60 3 Chapter 3 – Theoretical concepts 62 Background and concepts 62 Class and Bourdieu: field, habitus and capital 64 Habitus and cultural capital 66 A critique of Bourdieu 70 Class Matters – The Great British Class Survey 71 The Middle-Class in Ghana 73 Racism(s) – old and new 77 Black identity 83 Diaspora theory and the African diaspora 84 The creation of Black identity 86 Black British Identity 93 Intersectionality 95 Conclusion 98 Chapter 4 – Methodology 100 Introduction 100 Method 101 Focus of study and framework(s) 103
    [Show full text]
  • Constitutional Law--Equal Protection--Zoning--Snob Zoning: Must a Man's Home Be a Castle?
    Michigan Law Review Volume 69 Issue 2 1970 Constitutional Law--Equal Protection--Zoning--Snob Zoning: Must a Man's Home Be a Castle? Michigan Law Review Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Land Use Law Commons, Law and Race Commons, and the State and Local Government Law Commons Recommended Citation Michigan Law Review, Constitutional Law--Equal Protection--Zoning--Snob Zoning: Must a Man's Home Be a Castle?, 69 MICH. L. REV. 339 (1970). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol69/iss2/7 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Michigan Law Review at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NOTES CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-EQUAL PROTECTION­ ZONING-Snoh Zoning: Must a Man's Home Be a Castle? It is a well-documented fact that a shortage in housing is one of the most critical problems confronting the United States in the 1970's.1 Neither is it a secret that the lack of decent housing strikes with particular intensity at the poor and the black and other minor­ ity groups. While the more affluent members of society are able to flee to the wide-open spaces of suburbia, the disadvantaged urban dweller can do little more than watch the central city decay and crumble around him. When, as one study has pointed out, ninety­ nine per cent of the vacant land of the twenty largest urban areas is located outside the central cities,2 this problem becomes crucial.
    [Show full text]
  • The Seven Pillars of Storytelling
    BOOKS The Seven Pillars of Storytelling Ffion Lindsay Copyright © 2015 Sparkol All rights reserved Published by: Sparkol Books Published: December 2015 Illustrations: Ben Binney Sparkol Books Bristol, UK http://sparkol.com/books Keep this book free We’ve written this book to help you engage your audience through storytelling. Sharing it with just one other person spreads the word and helps us to keep it free. Thank you for clicking. Tweet Facebook G+ Pin it Scoop it LinkedIn Foreword If I were an architect designing a building I would look to nature – to the great creator, to God, if you like – for structures and principles, for design and style, for strength and beauty and for methods that have evolved over time. As communicators, we can do the same. In this book reams of theory has been distilled into practical, simple tools for understanding and applying the power of story. Ever thought why as evolved beings we don’t have more useful dreams at night? Why no one dreams in bullet points? Why the film industry is so large? Or why the gaming industry – which loves narrative based games – is even larger? Why we paint the day in stories, not facts, when we come home to our families? In the Middle East, centuries ago, a bearded man, a familiar boy who’d grown and looked like any other, trained in his father’s humble profession, stepped out on to a mountain and delivered simple stories that have been repeated ever since. Jesus, for me the most effective communicator there ever was, used parables.
    [Show full text]