SCATTERING THE SEED OF ABRAHAM: THE MOTIF OF SACRIFICE IN PAT BARKER'S REGENERATION AND THE GHOST ROAD
Pat Barker's historlographic trilogy challenges canonical assumptions about feminine writing Instead of trying to create a purely feminine textual body, as Hélene Cixous would have it, Barker chooses to rewrite the masculine narrative of World War One. Still working within a feminist perspectiv...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
1999
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| In: |
Literature and theology
Year: 1999, Volume: 13, Issue: 3, Pages: 259-268 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Pat Barker's historlographic trilogy challenges canonical assumptions about feminine writing Instead of trying to create a purely feminine textual body, as Hélene Cixous would have it, Barker chooses to rewrite the masculine narrative of World War One. Still working within a feminist perspective, she maps the development of hitherto ‘feminine’ symptoms such as hysterical paralysis, nightmares or aphasia, exploring the way masculine identity too is distorted by patriarchal phallocentric demands Barker thus strays from the expected World War One elegy by focusing on the character of the psychologist William Rivers, avoiding direct battle scenes while probing into psychological damage as well as moral and ethical dilemma. A most moving though discreet theme, is the implicit rewriting of the sacrifice of Abraham, as Rivers gradually becomes more vulnerable and loses his faith in his duty. But perhaps the Biblical parallel was to be expected, since Julia Kristeva2 defines psychoanalysis as a gift of love expecting a retribution, just like a prayer, an act of faith. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4623 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Literature and theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/litthe/13.3.259 |