Abjection and the Fear of Alterity: Matricide and the Element of the Maternal in the Works of Carlo Emilio Gadda and Samuel Beckett

Wehling-Giorgi, Katrin

Abstract

The article offers an analysis of the intrinsically ambiguous representation of the maternal figure in Carlo Emilio Gadda's and Samuel Beckett's writings (with a particular focus on La cognizione del dolore and Beckett's prose Trilogy), which is characterized both by an absolute kind of love and by aggressive desires vented against her. Adopting a Kristevan theoretical framework, a close relationship between the literary trope of matricide and the fragmented notion of the self is identified. In this context, particular emphasis is paid to the narrative imagery of abjection (prevalently in the form of defilement and obscenity) accompanying the maternal trope, a literary and cultural phenomenon which according to Kristeva disturbs identity, system, and order. The present investigation identifies the intrinsically disruptive effect of the maternal figure on both narrative linearity and on the very notion of the subject.

Citation

Wehling-Giorgi, K. (2011). Abjection and the Fear of Alterity: Matricide and the Element of the Maternal in the Works of Carlo Emilio Gadda and Samuel Beckett. Italian Studies, 66(1), 76-92. https://doi.org/10.1179/007516311x12918079775668

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2011-03
• Deposit Date: Sep 5, 2014
• Journal: Italian Studies
• Print ISSN: 0075-1634
• Electronic ISSN: 1748-6181
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Volume: 66
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 76-92
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/007516311x12918079775668
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1421588