Gender Dis-Ease: Representations of Masculine Hysteria in Narratives of Sexual Trauma A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctorate in Philosophy in the Department of English University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By Justine Gieni ©Copyright Justine Gieni, April 2012. All rights reserved. PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Doctorate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this dissertation in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my dissertation work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my dissertation work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this dissertation or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my dissertation. Requests for permission to copy or to make other uses of materials in this dissertation in whole or part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of English, University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A5 Canada OR Dean College of Graduate Studies and Research University of Saskatchewan 107 Administration Place Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A2 Canada i ABSTRACT My dissertation addresses the conflicts of masculine subjectivity evident in narratives of sexual trauma, including Patrick Süskind’s novel Perfume , Neil Gaiman’s graphic story “Calliope,” Ian McEwan’s short story “Homemade,” Chang-rae Lee’s novel A Gesture Life, J.M. Coetzee’s novel Disgrace , Timothy Findley’s novel The Wars , and Kimberly Peirce’s film Boys Don’t Cry . I argue that in these narratives patriarchal culture is represented as toxic, producing a pathological form of masculinity that is founded on violent repudiation of female and feminized Others. For men and boys, the disavowal of masculine fears and anxieties, as well as the collective shame and silencing of feelings of inadequacy and vulnerability, all contribute to social conditions that produce a hostile, destructive, and violent masculinity. Hysteria or what I call “gender dis-ease” offers an apt model to illustrate the effect that this configuration of masculinity has on both the mind and body of the afflicted subjects. The historical context of war trauma reveals the construction of hysteria as a state of masculinity that is feared and abject in its connotations of vulnerability, effeminacy and homosexuality. In this sense, those men who occupy a hysterical position are seen as a threat to the constitution of patriarchal masculinity. Indeed, the repudiation of male hysteria can be seen as the foundation of hegemonic masculine subjectivity. When situated within the theories of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Jonathan Dollimore, and Michael S. Kimmel, the male hysteric can be seen as a subject that destabilizes masculinity in such a way that it reveals its careful construction as a fixed and static category as well as its function to maintain social stability through heterosexism, homophobia, and misogyny. Patriarchal culture has produced traumatic conditions, such that those who are vulnerable or marked as “Other” than the norm are targeted with abuse and violence. The violence perpetuated and expressed in patriarchal culture targets all those who appear vulnerable and weak. This includes individuals who do not conform or fit into the narrow constraints of the binary structures of gender and sexuality. The narratives that I have included in my discussion exemplify how contemporary authors and filmmakers are representing masculinity in ways that defy or challenge ii hegemonic constructions of gender. In Section One of my discussion, I look at contemporary Gothic narratives that focus on male violators, narratives by Süskind, Gaiman and McEwan. Each of these authors explores the psychodynamics of male violators to illustrate how it is often the normative qualities of hegemonic masculinity, such as ambition and entitlement, that become malevolent forces, leading “normal” men to do monstrous acts of sadistic violence. In Section Two, I continue my examination of male violators, yet shift my focus to the journey of redemption undertaken by men who have committed sexual violence. The male protagonists in narratives by Lee and Coetzee have been complicit in supporting patriarchal power structures, yet are represented as suffering post-traumatic shame and regret for their actions. In Section Three, I look at representations of male or male-identified victims of sexual violence in Findley’s The Wars and Peirce’s film Boys Don’t Cry . Both Findley and Peirce represent the anguish and struggle of being different within a patriarchal system that disavows and victimizes dissident subjectivities. Ultimately, by reading gender dis-ease or hysteria within these narratives, I am attempting to show how contemporary literature and film challenge patriarchal constraints and power inequalities, while also promoting alternative masculinities. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the following for the assistance I received in completion of this dissertation: The Department of English and the Department of Graduate Studies and Research, who provided access to Graduate Teaching Fellowships (2006-2011), the Mentored Teaching Fellowship in 2010-2011, as well as the McCourt Memorial Fellowship in 2008, which were essential in the completion of this project. The members of my dissertation committee: the specialist reader, Dr. Ann Martin, whose knowledge and attention to detail was key in elevating the precision of my writing; Dr. Lesley Biggs, the internal / external examiner from Women’s and Gender Studies; Dr. Peter Hynes, the Grad Chair; and the external examiner, Dr. Marlene Briggs, from the University of British Columbia. My friends and family, including my parents Jill and Peter Gieni, who have always supported my academic career, providing encouragement and moments of respite from the strains of academic life; my brothers, Tristam, Owen and Jon for inspiring me creatively. Finally, my supervisor, Dr. Hilary Clark, who provided invaluable support in the creation and completion of this dissertation. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PERMISSION TO USE i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF FIGURES vii INTRODUCTION 1 SECTION ONE Male Violators and Castration Anxiety in Contemporary Gothic Literature 24 CHAPTER ONE Matricide, Misogyny, and all the Makings of a God in Patrick Süskind’s Perfume” 29 CHAPTER TWO Rape and Revenge in Graphic Detail: Neil Gaiman’s “Calliope” in The Sandman Comic Series 52 CHAPTER THREE The Violence of Masculine Self-Fashioning and Homosociality in Ian McEwan’s “Homemade” 75 SECTION TWO Haunting Regrets: Male Guilt, Complicity and PTSD in 100 Contemporary Historical Fiction CHAPTER FOUR A Contagion within”: Male Hysteria and Traumatic Repetition in Chang-rae Lee’s A Gesture Life 107 CHAPTER FIVE “They wanted me castrated”: Phallic Masculinity and Castration Anxiety in J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace 132 v SECTION THREE The “Walking Wounded”: Victims of Sexual Trauma and Violence 156 CHAPTER SIX Shattered Masculinity: Male Hysteria in Timothy Findley’s The Wars 159 CHAPTER SEVEN Violating Masculinity: Sexual Dissidence in Kimberly Peirce’s Boys Don’t Cry 183 CONCLUSION Literary Awakenings: The Potential Impact of Trauma Narratives in Transforming Patriarchal Culture 206 WORKS CITED 212 vi LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: André Brouillet “Une leçon clinique à la Salpêtrière” (1887). FIGURE 2: Abu Ghraib Torture and Prisoner Abuse photo. Wikipedia. vii Introduction Gender Dis-Ease: Representations of Masculine Hysteria in Narratives of Sexual Trauma But could hysteria also be the son’s disease, or perhaps the disease of the powerless and silenced? (Elaine Showalter, “Hysteria, Feminism, Gender” 288) Depictions of hysteria often portray the sufferer as a young, attractive female overtaken by a fit of emotional and physical distress as a result of her vulnerable, volatile sensibility. André Brouillet’s lithograph of the French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot lecturing at the Salpêtrière clinic is a case in point (Figure 1). In the image, Charcot’s apprentice is shown supporting the limp body of a female hysteria patient, demonstrating to medical students the symptoms of the woman’s disorder. The woman is shown in a highly sensual manner, her hair draped down, her shoulders exposed, her back arched, her body clothed in a loose-fitting blouse suited more for the bedroom than a lecture hall. With the exception of the female nursing attendant, the patient is surrounded by men whose interest in her appears to be motivated as much by their sexual curiosity as by their quest for knowledge. The men support the woman’s fragile, weakened body, and gaze with full attention at her uninhibited bodily contortions. They observe her, classify her, and study her as an object of medical inquiry; however, there is also a sense of astonishment and mystery. In her strange body language, they see her as offering a glimpse into the primal aspects of the nature of women. Each symptom tells the tale of a deep-rooted fear, a hidden desire, a forbidden aggression, a guilty conscience, or an unspeakable sadness. At the center of the scene is Charcot: older, tightly buttoned, and composed. He is in command of the situation, captivating his audience of medical men with his lecture while his female patient passively displays her symptomatic behaviour. Indeed, the female patient has been rendered fully malleable under the suggestion of hypnosis, a technique Charcot regularly employed on his hysterical patients to produce symptoms under a controlled situation. As Martha Noel Evans describes in her genealogy 1 of hysteria, in this hypnotic trance, the female patient would fall under the “will and domination” of her advisors (44).