Post-Frankenstein; the Postmodern Subjectivity in Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint and Sabbath’s Theater
Abstract
The aim of this study is to depict the transformation of the postmodern subject into Post-Frankenstein in the world devoid of any symbolic authorities. In order to achieve this goal, Slavoj Žižek’s main ideas regarding postmodernism, namely “show it all” or “tell it all”, in the context of the sexual revolution in 1960s are applied to Philip Roth’s two works, Portnoy’s Complaint and Sabbath’s Theater. Consequently the creation of Post-Frankenstein through numerous psychological disorders such as neurosis, paranoia, and pathological narcissism are studied in order to present Post-Frankenstein as the final step in de-subjectivization in the postmodern life.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Kleinschmidt, H. J. (1967). The Angry Act: the Role of Aggresion in Creativity. American Imago.
Myers, T. (2003). Slavoj Žižek. London. USA. Canada: Routledge.
Nietzsche, F. (1882). The Gay Science. (Trans. Walter Kaufmann). New York: Vintage Books.
Roth, P. (1969). Portnoy’s Complaint. London: Corgi Books.
Roth, P. (1995). Sabbath’s Theater. London: Vintage Classics.
Sharpe, M. (2004) Slovaj Žižek: a Little Piece of the Real. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
Wood, K. (2012). Žižek: A Reader’s Guide. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
Žižek, S. (2001). The Fright of Real Tears Krzysztof Kieslowski Between Theory and Post-Theory. London, British Film Institute.
Žižek, S. (2002). For They Know Not What They Do: Enjoyment As a Political Factor. New York: Verso.
Žižek, S. (1992) Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan through Popular Culture. The MIT Press.
Žižek, S. (1989). The Sublime object of Ideology. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. (1999). “You May.” London Review of Book vol. 21 No.6: p.3-6. Web. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v21/n06/slavoj-zizek/you-may
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.4n.1p.242
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
2012-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD.
International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature
To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add the journal emails into your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', check your 'bulk mail' or 'junk mail' folders.