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ThecriticaltoolchosenfortheanalysisofEmilyDickinson,spoetryis
theworkofJuliaKristevaashertheoryexplainsthefunctionofpainin
humanbiography.Shereferstotheearliestandmostuniversalanthro-
pologicalexperienceofeveryperson,namely,beingapartofamother,s
body.AccordingtoKristevatheprimarypainfuleventineveryone,slife
isseparationfromthematernalbodyandthefirstsignalofhumansuffer-
ingisthecryofanew-bornbaby,whofeelsbrutallyseparatedfromthe
comfortandsafetyofthemother,swomb.Speechisalsoaresultofthis
imposeddeprivation:“‘lack,isnecessaryforthesigntoemerge”(Kristeva
23).ApplyingKristeva,stheorytoEmilyDickinson,spoetryrevealsthatat
thecentreofDickinson,spoetictextsisanoscillationbetweenthedesire
forthemother,spresenceandthenecessityofseparationfromher.This
isthegeneraldefinitionofsufferingthatthepoetformulates.Thiswork
concentratesonthetensionbetweenthebiographicaldeficienciesandthe
compulsiveneedforcreation.EmilyDickinsonisapoetofsuchtension
causedbysufferingandnecessitytowrite.Thereforewecansaythatsuf-
feringbecameherpoeticstrategy.
Inthetwofollowingchaptersofthisthesisanattemptwillbemadeto
provethatpersonalanguishmouldedthethreemajorcomponentsofthe
poet,swork:thetheme,thelanguage,andtheform.Alloftheseaspects
areintegralpartsofaliteraryworkinthetheoryofJuliaKristeva.Thedu-
alisticnatureofsufferingparallelswithhertheoryofadoubledimension
ofthetext–thesemioticreflectssufferingasthedestructiveanddepres-
sivestatewhilethesymbolicitssuccessfulovercoming.
InherliterarycriticismJuliaKristevaconcentratesontheroleofthe
authorandregardsthewriterasacrucialelementintheinterpretationof
atext.Thecriticlinkspsychologicalprocessestoliteraturethroughvari-
ouschannelssuchastherelationshipbetweensufferingandcreativity,the
limitsoflanguageandtheacquisitionofthesymbolicorder.Accordingto
Kristevaweareall“subjects-in-process”(qtd.inMcAfee69)representing
thestrugglebetweenbodilydrivesandtheirsuccessfulconquest.Chapter
OneofthisthesisinvestigatesEmilyDickinson,squestforsubjectivity–her
wrestlingwiththerepresseddesiresunderminingtheautonomousself.
ThefirstpartofChapterOne–“Sufferingasadispiritingfactor”–fo-
cusesonsufferingasthecentralfeatureintherepresentationofemotion-
aldeprivation,unfulfilledloveandherambivalentrelationshiptoGod.
Manypoemsarestudiedtoillustratethemetaphorisationofthepoet,s
poorphysicalconditionsandpsychicdistress.EmilyDickinson,spoetry
isnotconfessional,individualpersonsorcircumstancesarenevermen-
tionedintheverse,yet,personalmotifscanbeeasilydiscoveredbehind
herpoeticimages.Activatedbyalifeofwithdrawalherdispiritingpoems
aremetaphorsofdenialandsorrow.
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