Monstrosity – Illness – Wound: Uncanny Interconnections in Deborah Levy’s "Hot Milk"

• Authors: Anna Kisiel

Title variants

PL

Potworność – choroba – rana. Niesamowite połączenia w „Gorącym mleku" Deborah Levy

Abstracts

PL

Sofię Papastergiadis, bohaterkę powieści Deborah Levy pt. Gorące mleko, zdają się otaczać liczne potwory i potworności. Po pierwsze, jej apodyktyczna, potworna matka cierpi na równie potworną tajemniczą chorobę, ze względu na którą kobiety decydują się na podróż do Almerii, w nadziei na znalezienie odpowiedzi i możliwej terapii. Po drugie, przebywając w Andaluzji, Sofia jest wielokrotnie atakowana przez meduzy; spotkania z nimi okazują się bolesne, ale i uzależniające. Po trzecie, Sofia mierzy się z własnymi wątpliwymi intencjami, pochopnymi decyzjami i mrocznymi fantazjami, ujawniającymi się, na przykład, w toksycznych, choć zmysłowych, romansach. Powyższe przykłady potworności zmuszają Sofię do przyjrzenia się jeszcze jednemu potworowi: jej samej. W niniejszym artykule, chciałabym podjąć się interpretacji nominowanej do nagrody Bookera powieści Levy, w której z użyciem psychoanalizy i krytyki feministycznej przyjrzę się temu, jak dyskurs choroby nakłada się z dyskursem potworności. Mając na uwadze, że w Gorącym mleku choroba i potworność uczestniczą w strategiach zaciemniania oraz objawiania znaczenia, pragnę zbadać, jakie mogą mieć one konsekwencje dla głównej bohaterki oraz jej relacji z innymi postaciami.

EN

Sofia Papastergiadis – the protagonist of Deborah Levy’s Hot Milk – seems to be encircled by various monstrosities. First, her overbearing, monstrous mother suffers from an equally monstrous unidentifiable illness, because of which the two women travel to Almería, seeking answers and potential therapy. Second, while in Andalusia, Sofia is often attacked by Medusae/jellyfish, which is a painful, yet uncannily addictive experience. Third, the protagonist is puzzled with her own doubtful motivations, hasty decisions, and dark fascinations, resurfacing, for instance, in a pursuit of toxic, but sensual, affairs. All of these drive Sofia to investigate yet another monster: one residing inside her. In this article, I propose a reading informed by psychoanalysis and feminist criticism which aims at tracing how the discourse of illness interweaves with that of monstrousness in Levy’s Booker-shortlisted bildungsroman. Keeping in mind that disease and monstrosity engage in an interplay of secrecy and revelation in the novel, I wish to study the implications of that for the protagonist and her relationships with others.

Keywords

PL

Deborah Levy; potwór; choroba; meduza; Meduza; kobiecość

EN

Deborah Levy; monster; disease; jellyfish; Medusa; femininity

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
• Journal: ER(R)GO: Teoria – Literatura – Kultura
• Year: 2023
• Issue: 47
• Pages: 199-214

Dates

published

2023

Contributors

author

Anna Kisiel

• Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach

• https://orcid.org/0000000288030145

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Identifiers

DOI

10.31261/errgo.14934

Biblioteka Nauki

26066420