From the Imaginary in Lacan to the Material in Malabou: The Gaze as the Catalyst in Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

نوع مقاله : مقاله علمی پژوهشی

نویسندگان

1 دانشکده آموزش آتاترک دانشگاه مارمارا استانبول ترکیه

2 دانشیار زبان و ادبیات انگلیسی، دانشگاه کردستان، سنندج، ایران.

چکیده

The present paper intends to closely explore Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985) in terms of Catherine Malabou’s concepts of the material in alterity without transcendence, plasticity, and trans-subjectivation. The significance of the other in the process of identity formation would be illustrated in the novel, and the other as Catherine Malabou’s notion of alterity without transcendence would be lime lighted as the other in the self in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. Unlike Jacques Lacan, Malabou believes that ‘the material’ plays a substantial role in the notion of the other. The attempt would be spotlighting the gaze as both the producer and product of the other which triggers the mutability of identity. In other words, the process by which the main character identifies herself as a subject would be argued. Moreover, desiring the other or craving for the desire per se would be expounded as the process toward trans-subjectivation. Due to the intrinsic plasticity of love, lust, gender, body, and femininity, Jeanette is able to transform her destructive plasticity into inconsistent trans-subjectivation. That is to say, the present study would attempt to express the materiality of identity formation in Jeanette through the lens of Catherine Malabou while it endeavors to present the way Jacque Lacan’s triad lacks the materiality.
Key Words: Alterity without Transcendence, Destructive Plasticity, The Material, Plasticity, Trans-Subjectivation.

کلیدواژه‌ها

عنوان مقاله [English]

From the Imaginary in Lacan to the Material in Malabou: The Gaze as the Catalyst in Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

نویسندگان [English]

  • Hoda Niknezhadferdos 1
  • Bakhtiar Sadjadi 2
1 Instructor Ataturk Faculty of Education Marmara University Istanbul Turkey
2 Associate Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
چکیده [English]

Jeanette Winterson is a highly praised British writer known for her audacious narrative style, innovative storytelling, and exploration of themes like identity, gender, and sexuality. Her literary works often challenge conventional boundaries, mingling elements of fiction, autobiography, and myth. Winterson first gained extensive recognition with her debut novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985), a semi-autobiographical tale about growing up in a strict religious environment and noticing her sexuality. Her work is marked by a lyrical, often poetic prose and a deep philosophical searching of love, time, and selfhood. Over the years, Winterson has built a reputation as a daring voice in contemporary literature, known for engaging in complex themes with wit, intelligence, and emotional depth.
Many of her novels, such as The Passion (1987) and Written on the Body (1992), defy traditional narrative forms, and she recurrently uses fantastical elements to explore human experience. Winterson’s writing delves into the fluidity of gender and the transformative power of love, inspiring readers to rethink static notions of identity. Her bold literary experimentation and ability to intertwine themes of existential inquiry have earned her numerous honors. Beyond fiction, Winterson is also a renowned essayist and public intellectual, offering stimulating insights on art, politics, and society. Through her diverse works, she has made a long-lasting impact on both modern British literature and global researches about gender and identity.
The present paper first provides the literature review on Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. Then, the Malabouian critical concepts of the material, alterity without transcendence, destructive plasticity, plasticity, and trans-subjectivation shall be presented. The Material by Catherine Malabou and The Mirror Stage by Lacan would be juxtaposed. The aim would be the presentation of the way each thinker conceptualizes the formation of subjectivity in the process of subjectivation. Consequently, the core section of the study would be elaborated. It would be expressed that while Lacan’s model is rooted in the Imaginary, Malabou insists on the formative and plastic power of materiality itself. Finally, the findings of the research would be addressed in the concluding section. This comparison further allows for a critical reflection on the philosophical and political stakes of embodiment, presence, transformation, and subjectivation in contemporary theory.

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • Alterity without Transcendence
  • Destructive Plasticity
  • The Material
  • Plasticity
  • Trans-Subjectivation

مراجع

Alban, Gillian. 2017. The Medusa Gaze in Contemporary Women’s Fiction: Petrifying, Maternal and Redemptive. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Al-Shara, Zaydun. 2015. “Deconstructing Religion in Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the   Only Fruit: A Metacritical Study.” Advances in Language and Literary Studies 6 (1): 238–44.
Atasoy, Emrah. 2021.“Conflict between the Individual and Society in Jeanette Winterson's   Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.” JOHASS 4 (1): 1-10.
Ceker, Ebru. 2016. “The Representation of Evangelical Society in Winterson’s Oranges Are Not            the Only Fruit.” International Journal of English Literature and Culture 4 (3): 56–60.
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich. 1827. Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion: The Lectures of       1827. Edited by Peter C. Hodgson. Oxford University Press.
Knopf, Alfred. 1993. “Written on the Body.” Publishers Weekly.             https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-679-42007-1. Accessed June 20, 2019.
Malabou, Catherine. 2005. The Future of Hegel: Plasticity, Temporality and Dialectic.        Routledge.
———. 2008. What Should We Do with Our Brain? Translated by Sebastian Rand.               Fordham University Press.
———. 2010. Plasticity at the Dusk of Writing. Translated by Carolyn Shread. Columbia        University Press.
———. 2012. Ontology of the Accident. Translated by Carolyn Shread. Columbia         University Press.
———. 2012. The New Wounded. Translated by Steven Miller. Fordham University Press.
Mullan, John. 2007. “Bible Story.” The Guardian.             https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/oct/20/jeanettewinterson. Accessed June 20,       2019.
Niknezhadferdos, Hoda. Sadjadi, Bakhtiar. 2020. “Seeking Solid Subjectivity versus Spotting            Trans-Subjectivation in Jeanette Winterson’s Gut Symmetries” ANAFORA. 8(1): 125-   148. https://doi.org/10.29162/ANAFORA.v8i1.7

Niknezhadferdos, Hoda. Sadjadi, Bakhtiar. 2020.“The Mutability of Identity and Trans-       Subjectivation in Jeanette Winterson’s Art and Lies”. IJLLT. 3(4): 249- 256.

Niknezhadferdos, Hoda. Sadjadi, Bakhtiar. 2024. “Trans-Subjectivation through Temporality: Catherine Malabou’s Plasticity in Jeanette Winterson’s Sexing the Cherry”. Critical Language and Literary Studies. 22(34): 1- 17. 10.48308/clls.2024.236952.1264

Oruç, Sinem. 2022. “Invasion of the Symbolic by the Semiotic in Oranges Are Not the Only         Fruit: A Kristevan Analysis.” Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences 21(1):        204–16.https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.956677
Reisman, Mara. 2011. “Integrating Fantasy and Reality in Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not             the Only Fruit.” Rocky Mountain Review 65 (1): 11–35. Project MUSE.             https://muse.jhu.edu/article/450384.
Shepard, Jim. 1993. “Loss Is the Measure of Love.” The New York Times.             https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/14/books/loss-is-the-measure-of-love.html. Accessed    July 16, 2019.
Vahanian, Noelle. 2008. “A Conversation with Catherine Malabou.” Journal for Cultural and           Religious Theory 9 (11–13).
Winterson, Jeanette. 1985. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. Pandora Press.
 

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