Splitting the Subject in Lacanian Psychoanalysis on Suzan-Lori Parks’s Topdog/Underdog

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of English Language and Literature, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of English Language and Literature, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran

3 Department of English Language and Literature, Boroujerd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Boroujerd, Iran

4 Department of English Language and Literature, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/ias.2022.323706.1850

Abstract

The present article intends to examine the concept of identity according to Jacques Lacan's theories of subject discontinuity in the upstream / downstream play. Two black brothers in the form of unconscious subjects in the struggle for supreme power appear in such a way that their identities oscillate between their two outer and inner selves. The dual relationship between them represents the identity of an action that overshadows their true personality. They are missing subjects who have lost their inner identity and inevitably turn to others to fill the inner void. The dual idea of ​​real or genuine self merges in another sense and social feedback or external self in the play and manifests itself in the rupture of the characters. In this research, the three foundations of Lacan's thought, namely the imaginary, symbolic and real realms, and their applicability in the play are examined. The results show that Lacan interprets the perception of separation from the mother and entry into the symbolic realm, which is manifested in the child's mind as lack, as the beginning of the child's mental disintegration into both conscious and unconscious realms. Because the process of identity is based on rupture, rupture and absence as two fundamental concepts in psychoanalysis always force the subject to seek to fill the void caused by a defect in his psyche. But since this perpetual lack, which becomes a desire, is never filled, it inevitably leads the subject to other desires.

Keywords

References

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Islamic Art Studies
Volume 19, Issue 46 - Serial Number 46
February 2021
Pages 442-454

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