Conference Presentations by Jennifer Komorowski
The Masochian Woman: a fantasy of male desire?
The Masochian woman is a figure who stages what ... more The Masochian Woman: a fantasy of male desire?
The Masochian woman is a figure who stages what is at stake for women when desire and the law come together. This requires an examination of the conflict that exists between the idea that women’s masochism is the fantasy of men and the truth about who wields power in the masochistic theatre. Thus, the inquiry into women’s masochism means following Jacques Lacan’s conception of women’s masochism in Anxiety, which describes it as holding a “completely different meaning, a fairly ironic meaning, and a completely different scope” from the pervert’s masochism or moral masochism (Seminar X 190). Beginning with a critical analysis of Freud and Lacan’s theories on masochism, I will decipher what feminine masochism is and why we are usually only presented with cases where the man exhibits this type of masochistic desire. In order to reach a full understanding of this different and ironic meaning for women’s masochism, it is important to examine the connection between the gaze and masochism to comprehend the way in which the fantasy of the Other is an essential mechanism in the design of the masochistic theatre. However, connecting these two perversions as both belonging on the passive side of the erotic register, as Lacan does in “The Function and Field of Speech and Language in Psychoanalysis,” does not go far enough, and it must be understood that masochism itself is inherently reliant on the gaze as an essential part of the masochistic theatre, and allows it to function as a fantasy. Thus, for masochism to exist in women, even if it is ironic, Lacan proposes that the fantasy imagined by the Other, or the male fantasy, is what is enacted. This leads to the question of what role anxiety plays in the male fantasy. Lacan believes the masochist’s aim is the anxiety of the Other. If woman is enacting a male fantasy, and one which causes anxiety in the face of the Other’s desire, and man sustains his jouissance through his own anxiety, what is this anxiety? I believe Deleuze provides the answer to this question in his own discussion of the three women figures in Masoch’s work. It is the figure of the Grecian woman, who “believes in the independence of women and in the fleeting nature of love; for her the sexes are equal” (Deleuze 47), that is the cause of anxiety for man. For Aphrodite, equality between men and women is the “crucial moment at which she gains dominance over man, for ‘man trembles as soon as woman becomes his equal’” (47-48).
Papers by Jennifer Komorowski
The Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2015
In her novel Berg, Ann Quin creates a hidden subtext through the use of uncanny and abject Egypti... more In her novel Berg, Ann Quin creates a hidden subtext through the use of uncanny and abject Egyptian imagery. By using the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and Julia Kristeva to unravel the meaning behind imagery such as mummified animals, recurrent cat images, and the double, we can expose the underlying symbolism in the novel. The features of the uncanny that are especially significant to Berg are the return of the repressed and the idea of uncontrolled repetition. The repetition of cat imagery, often in the form of wet fur, signals the return of the repressed housecat Sebastian which is representative of Berg’s underlying Oedipus complex. The cat imagery is connected, through the Egyptian goddess Bastet to Berg’s mother and Judith, his pseudo-stepmother. The idea that Judith’s room is an Egyptian tomb, filled with mummified animals, increases our uncanny reaction to her because of the continued repetition of
This thesis is a discussion of the voice as an object of desire in the work of Ann Quin. In life ... more This thesis is a discussion of the voice as an object of desire in the work of Ann Quin. In life Quin suffered from bouts of silence and after death her work was itself silenced; I believe investigating the voice as an object is a fitting way to think about her work. My first chapter discusses the object voice as a silent, interior voice using the concept of the voice which Mladen Dolar develops to expand on Jacques Lacan naming the voice as an object of desire. In the second chapter I continue my discussion of the object voice with a specific focus on the voice in the fictional journal entries and letters which Quin injects throughout her novels. My final chapter discusses Quin as part of a tradition of women’s writing in literature and theory, which focuses on topics surrounding psychoanalysis and how she has influenced writers who follow her on this continuum.
Domestic violence was a social issue prominently debated during the Victorian period. Literature ... more Domestic violence was a social issue prominently debated during the Victorian period. Literature published during this time period, which included Robert Browning's "Porphyria's Lover" and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, addresses the problem of domestic violence and exposes the problems women faced in the home, problems that were previously thought to be private matters. Throughout the nineteenth century, the laws regarding both domestic violence and the rights of women drastically changed to provide more protection and grant greater rights to both women and children. Both of Browning and Brontës works expose the hidden monsters that could exist behind the closed doors of a private Victorian home. Literature, such as Brownings and Brontës, which addresses these types of social problems revealed the need for greater protections for women and children; and in the nineteenth century, helped to further the campaign to strengthen the law.
Liberated Arts a Journal For Undergraduate Research, 2015
Middle Voice
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It ha... more This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Middle Voices by an authorized editor of Duquesne Scholarship Collection.
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Conference Presentations by Jennifer Komorowski
The Masochian woman is a figure who stages what is at stake for women when desire and the law come together. This requires an examination of the conflict that exists between the idea that women’s masochism is the fantasy of men and the truth about who wields power in the masochistic theatre. Thus, the inquiry into women’s masochism means following Jacques Lacan’s conception of women’s masochism in Anxiety, which describes it as holding a “completely different meaning, a fairly ironic meaning, and a completely different scope” from the pervert’s masochism or moral masochism (Seminar X 190). Beginning with a critical analysis of Freud and Lacan’s theories on masochism, I will decipher what feminine masochism is and why we are usually only presented with cases where the man exhibits this type of masochistic desire. In order to reach a full understanding of this different and ironic meaning for women’s masochism, it is important to examine the connection between the gaze and masochism to comprehend the way in which the fantasy of the Other is an essential mechanism in the design of the masochistic theatre. However, connecting these two perversions as both belonging on the passive side of the erotic register, as Lacan does in “The Function and Field of Speech and Language in Psychoanalysis,” does not go far enough, and it must be understood that masochism itself is inherently reliant on the gaze as an essential part of the masochistic theatre, and allows it to function as a fantasy. Thus, for masochism to exist in women, even if it is ironic, Lacan proposes that the fantasy imagined by the Other, or the male fantasy, is what is enacted. This leads to the question of what role anxiety plays in the male fantasy. Lacan believes the masochist’s aim is the anxiety of the Other. If woman is enacting a male fantasy, and one which causes anxiety in the face of the Other’s desire, and man sustains his jouissance through his own anxiety, what is this anxiety? I believe Deleuze provides the answer to this question in his own discussion of the three women figures in Masoch’s work. It is the figure of the Grecian woman, who “believes in the independence of women and in the fleeting nature of love; for her the sexes are equal” (Deleuze 47), that is the cause of anxiety for man. For Aphrodite, equality between men and women is the “crucial moment at which she gains dominance over man, for ‘man trembles as soon as woman becomes his equal’” (47-48).
Papers by Jennifer Komorowski
The Masochian woman is a figure who stages what is at stake for women when desire and the law come together. This requires an examination of the conflict that exists between the idea that women’s masochism is the fantasy of men and the truth about who wields power in the masochistic theatre. Thus, the inquiry into women’s masochism means following Jacques Lacan’s conception of women’s masochism in Anxiety, which describes it as holding a “completely different meaning, a fairly ironic meaning, and a completely different scope” from the pervert’s masochism or moral masochism (Seminar X 190). Beginning with a critical analysis of Freud and Lacan’s theories on masochism, I will decipher what feminine masochism is and why we are usually only presented with cases where the man exhibits this type of masochistic desire. In order to reach a full understanding of this different and ironic meaning for women’s masochism, it is important to examine the connection between the gaze and masochism to comprehend the way in which the fantasy of the Other is an essential mechanism in the design of the masochistic theatre. However, connecting these two perversions as both belonging on the passive side of the erotic register, as Lacan does in “The Function and Field of Speech and Language in Psychoanalysis,” does not go far enough, and it must be understood that masochism itself is inherently reliant on the gaze as an essential part of the masochistic theatre, and allows it to function as a fantasy. Thus, for masochism to exist in women, even if it is ironic, Lacan proposes that the fantasy imagined by the Other, or the male fantasy, is what is enacted. This leads to the question of what role anxiety plays in the male fantasy. Lacan believes the masochist’s aim is the anxiety of the Other. If woman is enacting a male fantasy, and one which causes anxiety in the face of the Other’s desire, and man sustains his jouissance through his own anxiety, what is this anxiety? I believe Deleuze provides the answer to this question in his own discussion of the three women figures in Masoch’s work. It is the figure of the Grecian woman, who “believes in the independence of women and in the fleeting nature of love; for her the sexes are equal” (Deleuze 47), that is the cause of anxiety for man. For Aphrodite, equality between men and women is the “crucial moment at which she gains dominance over man, for ‘man trembles as soon as woman becomes his equal’” (47-48).