Hostile communion : the intrasubjective experience of brotherhood in narrative : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
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Date
2015
DOI
Open Access Location
Authors
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Massey University
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The Author
Abstract
In
conventional
psychoanalytical
theory
of
the
subject,
the
mother
and
father
are
given
a
preeminent
position
in
explaining
how
the
subject
comes
into
being.
This
approach,
stemming
from
Freud’s
emphasis
on
oedipal
relations,
reinforces
the
typical
family
unit
and
the
cultural
hierarchy
of
father,
mother
and
child.
Narrative,
by
contrast,
frequently
explores
the
atypical,
and
in
the
process
provides
avenues
of
subjectivity
that
resist
oedipal
interpretations.
Intrigued
by
the
expression
of
fraternal
discord
in
literature,
I
explore
the
way
brotherhood
can
both
split
and
establish
the
character
as
a
subject.
To
do
so,
this
thesis
traces
pairs
of
brothers
in
three
different
novels
in
order
to
examine
possible
overlaps
and
connections
between
the
experience
of
brotherhood
and
the
conditions
of
subjectivity.
While
the
brotherhood
of
The
Brothers
Karamazov,
East
of
Eden
and
Ender’s
Game
do
not
provide
a
singular
narrative
of
subjective
formation,
each,
in
their
own
way,
demonstrate
the
primacy
of
the
brother
as
a
source
of
trauma.
Understood
as
a
hostile
communion,
this
form
of
brotherhood
suggests
that
neither
brother
character
should
be
recognised
as
an
individuated
subject
who
is
able
to
think
and
act
unaccompanied
by
the
inEluence
of
the
his
brother.
By
drawing
on
Juliet
Mitchell’s
exploration
of
siblings
and
Jacques
Lacan’s
mirror
stage,
I
advance
a
reading
of
each
text
which
exposes
the
delusion
of
the
ego’s
agency
and
autonomy.
Moreover,
as
a
subject
is
extricated
from
the
brother
bind,
I
explore
how
the
experience
of
brotherhood
shapes
encounters
with
others
outside
of
the
brother
pair.
This
second
line
of
enquiry
is
underwritten
by
the
work
of
both
Mikhail
Bakhtin
and
Emmanuel
Levinas,
and
suggests
that
the
trope
of
fraternal
discord
can
operate
as
a
mechanism
to
allow
characters
to
move
from
the
paralysing
familiarity
of
family
to
engaging
with
the
strangeness
of
strangers.
As
a
result,
I
argue
that
recognising
the
hostile
communion
of
brotherhood
can
signiEicantly
impact
thematic
interpretations
attributed
to
texts.
Description
Keywords
Brothers in literature, Sibling rivalry in literature, Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, Steinbeck, John, Card, Orson Scott, Criticism and interpretation