Alienation, Aggressiveness and Aphasia: A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Cowley Father and Son in Sherwood Anderson’s “Queer”

Zheng Wenqian

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12

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Alienation, Aggressiveness and Aphasia: A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Cowley Father and Son in Sherwood Anderson’s “Queer”

Zheng Wenqian

Published in English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 8, Issue 1)

Received: 19 January 2023 Accepted: 4 February 2023 Published: 14 February 2023

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Abstract

Sherwood Anderson’s capture of the subtlety of inner worlds in his short story “Queer” collected in Winesburg, Ohio shows great insights into the complexity and paradoxes of human psychology, in terms of his deep exploration into issues including identity, neurosis and speech impairment, which demonstrate surprising coincidence with symptoms examined by Lacan. Elmer Cowley’s queer behaviors suggest that he has developed “self-punishment paranoia,” a mental disorder Lacan found and examined in his doctoral thesis. The term illustrates the paradoxical and alienating nature of the relationship between subjects and their identities. Elmer’s attacking of George Willard, the only newspaper reporter of Winesburg and the incarnation of the big Other, is equivalent to the attacking of himself, for George serves as Elmer’s ego-ideal through the mechanism of symbolic identification. Besides, the Cowley father and son also show a certain degree of aphasia. The seemingly nonsensical expression about laundry, which the Cowleys often utters unintendedly when they try to confront Winesburg residents, discloses the truth of the unconscious subject that they desire to be normal like other town folks. The Cowleys’ aphasia indicates their failure of being integrated into the Winesburg community. Anderson’s foresights of Lacanian psychoanalysis yet to be born in his time prove the prophet role a truly insightful writer can assume.

Published in	English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 8, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12
Page(s)	5-9
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Lacan, Identity, The Big Other, Self-punishment Paranoia, Aphasia

References

[1]	Bryfonski, Dedria & Mendelson, Phyllis. (1978). Twentieth Century Literature Criticism. Gale Research Company: Detroit, 34.
[2]	West, M. D. (1968). Sherwood Anderson's triumph: "The egg". American Quarterly, 20 (4), pp. 675-693, 682.
[3]	Hoffman, F. J. (1967). Freudianism and the Literary Mind. Louisiana State University Press.
[4]	Burbank, R. (1964). Sherwood Anderson. Twayne Publishers.
[5]	Yerkes, A. C. (2011). "Strange fevers, burning within": The neurology of Winesburg, Ohio. Philosophy and Literature, 35 (2), pp. 199–215, 199.
[6]	Howe, Irving. (1951) Sherwood Anderson: A Biographical and Critical Study. Stanford University Press: Calif, 80.
[7]	Anderson, Sherwood. (2005). Winesburg, Ohio. ICON Group International, Inc, pp. 170-175, 178.
[8]	Leader, Darian. &Groves, Judy. (2000). Introducing Lacan. Icon Books: Cambridge, 48, 60.
[9]	Roudinesco, Elizabeth. (1997). Jacques Lacan (B. Bray, Trans.). Columbia University Press: New York, 45.
[10]	Lacan, Jacques. (2006). Ecrits (Bruce Fink, Trans.). W. W. Norton & Company: New York, 92.
[11]	Whitehead, Anne. (2004). Trauma Fiction. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, 82.
[12]	Caruth, Cathy. (1996). Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative, and History. The John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, 11.
[13]	Lacan, Jacques. (1998). The Seminar of Jacques Lacan: The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis (Alan Sheridan, Trans.). W. W. Norton & Company: New York, 203.
[14]	Grosz, Elizabeth. (1990). Jacques Lacan: A Feminist Introduction. Routledge: London, 98.
[15]	Žižek Slavoj. (2007). How to Read Lacan. W. W. Norton & Company: New York, 11.

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Zheng Wenqian. (2023). Alienation, Aggressiveness and Aphasia: A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Cowley Father and Son in Sherwood Anderson’s “Queer”. English Language, Literature & Culture, 8(1), 5-9. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12

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Zheng Wenqian. Alienation, Aggressiveness and Aphasia: A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Cowley Father and Son in Sherwood Anderson’s “Queer”. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2023, 8(1), 5-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12

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AMA Style

Zheng Wenqian. Alienation, Aggressiveness and Aphasia: A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Cowley Father and Son in Sherwood Anderson’s “Queer”. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2023;8(1):5-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12,
  author = {Zheng Wenqian},
  title = {Alienation, Aggressiveness and Aphasia: A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Cowley Father and Son in Sherwood Anderson’s “Queer”},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {8},
  number = {1},
  pages = {5-9},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20230801.12},
  abstract = {Sherwood Anderson’s capture of the subtlety of inner worlds in his short story “Queer” collected in Winesburg, Ohio shows great insights into the complexity and paradoxes of human psychology, in terms of his deep exploration into issues including identity, neurosis and speech impairment, which demonstrate surprising coincidence with symptoms examined by Lacan. Elmer Cowley’s queer behaviors suggest that he has developed “self-punishment paranoia,” a mental disorder Lacan found and examined in his doctoral thesis. The term illustrates the paradoxical and alienating nature of the relationship between subjects and their identities. Elmer’s attacking of George Willard, the only newspaper reporter of Winesburg and the incarnation of the big Other, is equivalent to the attacking of himself, for George serves as Elmer’s ego-ideal through the mechanism of symbolic identification. Besides, the Cowley father and son also show a certain degree of aphasia. The seemingly nonsensical expression about laundry, which the Cowleys often utters unintendedly when they try to confront Winesburg residents, discloses the truth of the unconscious subject that they desire to be normal like other town folks. The Cowleys’ aphasia indicates their failure of being integrated into the Winesburg community. Anderson’s foresights of Lacanian psychoanalysis yet to be born in his time prove the prophet role a truly insightful writer can assume.},
 year = {2023}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Alienation, Aggressiveness and Aphasia: A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Cowley Father and Son in Sherwood Anderson’s “Queer”
AU  - Zheng Wenqian
Y1  - 2023/02/14
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DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12
T2  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JO  - English Language, Literature & Culture
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
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AB  - Sherwood Anderson’s capture of the subtlety of inner worlds in his short story “Queer” collected in Winesburg, Ohio shows great insights into the complexity and paradoxes of human psychology, in terms of his deep exploration into issues including identity, neurosis and speech impairment, which demonstrate surprising coincidence with symptoms examined by Lacan. Elmer Cowley’s queer behaviors suggest that he has developed “self-punishment paranoia,” a mental disorder Lacan found and examined in his doctoral thesis. The term illustrates the paradoxical and alienating nature of the relationship between subjects and their identities. Elmer’s attacking of George Willard, the only newspaper reporter of Winesburg and the incarnation of the big Other, is equivalent to the attacking of himself, for George serves as Elmer’s ego-ideal through the mechanism of symbolic identification. Besides, the Cowley father and son also show a certain degree of aphasia. The seemingly nonsensical expression about laundry, which the Cowleys often utters unintendedly when they try to confront Winesburg residents, discloses the truth of the unconscious subject that they desire to be normal like other town folks. The Cowleys’ aphasia indicates their failure of being integrated into the Winesburg community. Anderson’s foresights of Lacanian psychoanalysis yet to be born in his time prove the prophet role a truly insightful writer can assume.
VL  - 8
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Zheng Wenqian

Department of English, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China

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APA Style

Zheng Wenqian. (2023). Alienation, Aggressiveness and Aphasia: A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Cowley Father and Son in Sherwood Anderson’s “Queer”. English Language, Literature & Culture, 8(1), 5-9. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12

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ACS Style

Zheng Wenqian. Alienation, Aggressiveness and Aphasia: A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Cowley Father and Son in Sherwood Anderson’s “Queer”. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2023, 8(1), 5-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12

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AMA Style

Zheng Wenqian. Alienation, Aggressiveness and Aphasia: A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Cowley Father and Son in Sherwood Anderson’s “Queer”. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2023;8(1):5-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12,
  author = {Zheng Wenqian},
  title = {Alienation, Aggressiveness and Aphasia: A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Cowley Father and Son in Sherwood Anderson’s “Queer”},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {8},
  number = {1},
  pages = {5-9},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20230801.12},
  abstract = {Sherwood Anderson’s capture of the subtlety of inner worlds in his short story “Queer” collected in Winesburg, Ohio shows great insights into the complexity and paradoxes of human psychology, in terms of his deep exploration into issues including identity, neurosis and speech impairment, which demonstrate surprising coincidence with symptoms examined by Lacan. Elmer Cowley’s queer behaviors suggest that he has developed “self-punishment paranoia,” a mental disorder Lacan found and examined in his doctoral thesis. The term illustrates the paradoxical and alienating nature of the relationship between subjects and their identities. Elmer’s attacking of George Willard, the only newspaper reporter of Winesburg and the incarnation of the big Other, is equivalent to the attacking of himself, for George serves as Elmer’s ego-ideal through the mechanism of symbolic identification. Besides, the Cowley father and son also show a certain degree of aphasia. The seemingly nonsensical expression about laundry, which the Cowleys often utters unintendedly when they try to confront Winesburg residents, discloses the truth of the unconscious subject that they desire to be normal like other town folks. The Cowleys’ aphasia indicates their failure of being integrated into the Winesburg community. Anderson’s foresights of Lacanian psychoanalysis yet to be born in his time prove the prophet role a truly insightful writer can assume.},
 year = {2023}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Alienation, Aggressiveness and Aphasia: A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Cowley Father and Son in Sherwood Anderson’s “Queer”
AU  - Zheng Wenqian
Y1  - 2023/02/14
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12
T2  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JO  - English Language, Literature & Culture
SP  - 5
EP  - 9
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-2413
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230801.12
AB  - Sherwood Anderson’s capture of the subtlety of inner worlds in his short story “Queer” collected in Winesburg, Ohio shows great insights into the complexity and paradoxes of human psychology, in terms of his deep exploration into issues including identity, neurosis and speech impairment, which demonstrate surprising coincidence with symptoms examined by Lacan. Elmer Cowley’s queer behaviors suggest that he has developed “self-punishment paranoia,” a mental disorder Lacan found and examined in his doctoral thesis. The term illustrates the paradoxical and alienating nature of the relationship between subjects and their identities. Elmer’s attacking of George Willard, the only newspaper reporter of Winesburg and the incarnation of the big Other, is equivalent to the attacking of himself, for George serves as Elmer’s ego-ideal through the mechanism of symbolic identification. Besides, the Cowley father and son also show a certain degree of aphasia. The seemingly nonsensical expression about laundry, which the Cowleys often utters unintendedly when they try to confront Winesburg residents, discloses the truth of the unconscious subject that they desire to be normal like other town folks. The Cowleys’ aphasia indicates their failure of being integrated into the Winesburg community. Anderson’s foresights of Lacanian psychoanalysis yet to be born in his time prove the prophet role a truly insightful writer can assume.
VL  - 8
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download