Sajed Hosseini

This study presents a psychoanalytical reading of Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan” having an eye on Žižek’s theory of the subject. “Kubla Khan” contains a host of components providing an illustration of Coleridge’s psychological status. In such a case, Žižekian approach to psychoanalysis could provide a suitable paradigm for an analytical reading of the poem. The works of Žižek conducted disputatious re-articulations of the subject/object, the displacement of an objet petit a (object of desire) with object-cause of desire, and parallax. Žižek, like Hegel, accentuates the one-to-one relationship of the subject and the object while introducing parallax and the ticklish subject, which are later followed by tickling object. It is thus possible to illustrate the psychoanalytical status of Coleridge in the course of writing “Kubla Khan.” The poem pictures a path to immortality while it is in search to immortalize its poet too. In this study, it is demonstrated how Coleridge followed his objet petit a, which is ‘artistic immortality,’ in the lines of “Kubla Khan.”

This inquiry is an attempt to scrutinize “The Moustache” having eye on the concepts of Nostalgia and Epiphany. The main aim of the researcher is to coined the term “Epiphanic-Nostalgia” that appears practical in reading fiction. The study delves into the unconscious of the subjects in order to illustrate the devastating offspring of a nostalgic experience. The interaction of the subjects discloses the way a nostalgic moment of a subject generates an epiphanic realization for the other. The inquiry follows the structure of an academic paper in a small scale. It thus contains different parts of an article including Introduction, Literature Review, Conceptual Framework, Discussion, and Conclusion. In Introduction presents the required information on the significance of the study. Literature Review shares the researcher’s perception on other critical studies conducted on “The Moustache.” Conceptual Framework discusses the concepts of Nostalgia and Epiphany. Discussion provides the critical reading of the short story in terms of the discussed concepts in order for a generalization which comes in Conclusion.

The current paper aims at presenting a close reading of the protagonist’s reminiscences in Mohsen Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist in terms of an eclectic approach toward representation of trauma. Freud and Breuer’s theory of psychological trauma, Judith Herman’s concept of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Jeffery Alexander’s notion of cultural trauma are employed as the conceptual framework of this analysis. Psychological trauma refers to the unbearable, untreatable, and unspeakable psychological wounds remaining on the subject’s unconsciousness. PTSD concentrates on troublesomeness in regular physical activities including rapid distraction, insomnia, and shifting in and out through past memories, triggered by trauma. Cultural trauma traces the changes at the level of collective identity of a group due to a formerly experienced horrendous event. The Adventures of Changez, the novel’s narrator, dating back to around the 9/11 attack are represented in The Reluctant Fundamentalist. The paper conducted a survey through theories of trauma depicting memory as a venue where the subject’s psychical status could be fully scrutinized. The results of the study demonstrated that a traumatic event such as that of the 9/11 has a long-term devastating impact on Changez’s subjectivity as well as a collective negative consequence for Pakistan’s new generation of intellectual immigrants.

The essence of human psyche as a primary subject of psychoanalytical discussions was in the center of attentions throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Thereupon, the investigations of various human psyche lead to the understanding of the relation between the conscious and the unconscious. In other words, what people do is done instinctively as a reaction toward their unconscious. On the contrary, human beings were not cognizant of unconscious' complexity; the directory of individual lives is interrelated to choices that are made in an out-of-reach aspect of mind, which does not always make a sense. Psychoanalysis, as a nonmedical observation of human mind, zooms in on various ways of interpretation of an individual's psyche. For instance, a famous play by John Logan entitled Red, written in 2009, appears to picture different aspects of an artist out of its characters' psyche while distinctively make conversation within the play. This paper's intention is to provide a reading Rothko, protagonist of Red, with having eye on the features discussed by the theories of psychoanalysis. The analysis illustrates the complexions of individuals' psyche interlocked with different circumstances and situations.

This paper aims to study the process of identity shaping of a teenager in a family from the perspective of Subjectivity theories. The process of identity formation has been one of the main concerns for various critical approaches in human sciences in general, and the psychoanalytical and Marxist approaches in particular. The case study of the present research is the character of Alyosha from Andrey Zvyagintsev’s film, Loveless (2017). Since there is no particular theory for the contentual analysis of Film, critics in the analysis of the films’ content, take advantage of various literary, sociological and psychoanalysis theories. Therefore, the Conceptual Framework of the present study concentrates on the critical approaches of Structural psychoanalysis and Structural Marxism; particularly definitions of the Unconscious, Repressed Desire, the Name of the Father by Lacan, the Ideology, ISAs, RSAs by Althusser, and the Žižekian concept of Lack of Language. This investigation in the process of identity formation can play a significant role in demonstrating the covert motives of the character’s suicidal act. It will illustrate the way Alyosha as a subject inherits his parents’ repressed desires and lack of language caused by ideology. The application of considering concepts indicates the central role and inevitable impact of the familial discourse at the emergence of subjectivity within the family.

The current thesis attempts to present a comparative reading of Saul Bellow’s Herzog and Reza Ghasemi’s The Nocturnal Symphony of Lumbers’ Orchestra. The fundamental aim of this thesis is to trace Žižekian concepts of the parallax, the tickling object, and the ticklish subject in these two novels. Herzog, one of Bellow’s awarded novels, contains a host of unsent letters providing illustration of Moses Herzog’s psychological status. Congruently in The Nocturnal Symphony of Lumbers’ Orchestra, Reza Ghasemi investigates the protagonist’s psychological status, Yadollah. Žižekian theory of the subject provides proper theoretical framework in reading these American and Persian novels. The works of Slavoj Žižek conducted disputatious re-articulation of Subject/Object, the Displacement of an Objet Petit a (Object of Desire) with Object-Cause of Desire, and Parallax. Žižek re-articulated Lacanian concepts, but, like Hegel, he places emphasis on one-to-one relation between subject and object. This thesis sheds light upon the psychological status of Moses and Yadollah; a comparative study of protagonists’ subjectivity in both novels. Herzog’s most significant actions take place in the mind of the subject. Moses’ second wife, Madeleine, is often described as the source of Moses’ interior struggle as she abandons Moses to be lover of Valentine Gersbach, Moses’ best friend. In Reza Ghasemi’s novel, actions are narrated through Yadollah’s mind. Yadollah is left behind by his lover, Raana on one hand, and on the other hand, the fact that Yadollah has immigrated delineates his inner subjectivity. Moses’ and Yadollah’s interior struggle to find truth appears to delineate the real essence of the subjects.