Men, the Ontological Rift, and the Possibility of Repair in Jack London’s Call of the Wild: A Pastoral-Psychoanalytic Perspective
This article examines Jack London’s novel Call of the Wild, relying on Giorgio Agamben’s notions of the ontological rift and inoperativity, as well as pastoral notions of care and faith and several psychoanalytic concepts. The argument, in brief, is that London’s story portrays the consequences of t...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
Pastoral psychology
Year: 2024, Volume: 73, Issue: 6, Pages: 817-831 |
| Further subjects: | B
Psychoanalysis
B Faith B Inoperativity B Care B Ontological rift |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article examines Jack London’s novel Call of the Wild, relying on Giorgio Agamben’s notions of the ontological rift and inoperativity, as well as pastoral notions of care and faith and several psychoanalytic concepts. The argument, in brief, is that London’s story portrays the consequences of the ontological rift between human beings and nature as well as the possibility of repair through acts of care that render the apparatuses of the ontological rift inoperative. This takes on particular importance considering the current climate emergency and the categorical imperative to care for other species and the earth. I begin by depicting the context of the story and how it can be seen in terms of both Agamben’s notion of the ontological rift and pastoral-psychoanalytic concepts. This sets the stage for describing John Thornton’s care for Buck and how this care makes inoperative Western civilization’s apparatuses that produce and maintain the ontological rift. I end with several brief implications of this perspective regarding (Western) men’s relationship to other species and the earth. |
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| ISSN: | 1573-6679 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Pastoral psychology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s11089-023-01114-7 |
