Well…ok then…
I really enjoyed reading the book, “Breakfast on Pluto” and loved “Pussy’s” character. That being said, after reading Mahon’s article, I guess I’m not sure I understood the book at all; perhaps though that is my frustration with the whole “Lacanian” theory. I didn’t enjoy the use of this theory in Carmilla and I’m not in love with it here either.
I think I was able to understand some of Mahon’s initial discussion about politics but I definitely got lost at times. I think I understand that his discussion about “sameness” boils down to the idea that the people of Northern Ireland and anywhere in general frequently want to be able to state and believe in “sameness” with those they may have issues with but essentially if you fight fire with fire…no one comes out a live. Or perhaps instead of the two groups being equally “innocent” they are really equally “guilty”. Not completely sure about this so I could be way off base on this one.
One of the parts in the book I loved was when Pussy became a super hero in her fantasy. The descriptive language is hilarious and paints a great scene in your head while you are reading. However, after reading Mahon’s article, I had an a-ha moment. Initially while reading the book, I thought that Pussy the superhero was coming back to clear the air of the stench that was her supposed father. Mahon’s article discusses this in a completely different way than I had previously thought about but now that I read it, it all makes more sense. Mahon writes,
“In response to Irwin’s terrified defecation, Pussy transforms into a super-hero who is tasked with protecting people from the stink of politics” (Mahon p. 447).
I totally missed the idea of the stench being political or the image of Irwin’s defecation being symbolized as his “caving into the pressure” or his “releasing information that shouldn’t be”. I think I had been really focused on Pussy’s discussions about her supposed father that I just assumed she had meant that she wanted to rid the valley of the “stench” that is her supposed father.
I found it interesting that Pussy really talked about movies and actors a lot. She was constantly comparing herself to them. I think that this partly reflected Pussy’s wish to “play a role where she could be anyone and anybody she wanted. Another idea I got from the text is just the continuation of the concept of “ownership” or a sense of “home”. In this book, there was the constant struggle within Northern Ireland, so these constant issues made it difficult for many to feel at ease or at “home”.
Also I think this issue with ownership and home comes out clearly in Pussy’s issues related to her mother and father and that no one was really her family. Not that you own your family but you do have a family of your own which is something Pussy was lacking. This essentially helps to complete the sense of “home” that she seemed to be looking for during the entire novel.
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I am SO relieved that I am not the only one who didn’t really enjoy reading “Lacanian Pussy” and applying theories to the stories we have read in this class. For me, well I consider myself somewhat of a romantic and a dreamer, therefore getting lost in the creativity of a story and not so much the technical scientific stuff. But, I suppose it’s different for people who are the opposite.
ReplyDeleteUnlike you, I didn’t really understand the “sameness” theory, and unfortunately this week was my week to do my literary criticism—boy did I choose the wrong week or what. After reading your opinion of “sameness” on your blog, I can sort of understand what Mahon was saying now, however not completely.
Also, I found a different website besides the one on D2L to read “Lacanian Pussy” on because the text was very difficult to read (I can’t read sideways) and my printer is out of commission at the moment. But I don’t recognize some of the things you mentioned in your blog so I’m kind of freaking out that perhaps I read the wrong one? I’m not sure because the one I found started out the same way that the one on D2L did. Maybe I just skimmed over that part. It was a LOT of unfamiliar language to focus on.
I agree with your paragraph where you said, “Also I think this issue with ownership and home comes out clearly in Pussy’s issues related to her mother and father and that no one was really her family. Not that you own your family but you do have a family of your own which is something Pussy was lacking. This essentially helps to complete the sense of “home” that she seemed to be looking for during the entire novel.” I think that this plays a huge role in the novel, and am glad that you noticed this. That is why I think Pussy was so obsessed with finding her mother.
So I don't think I fully got the "sameness theory either, but I really liked what you said, I think I understand that his discussion about “sameness” boils down to the idea that the people of Northern Ireland and anywhere in general frequently want to be able to state and believe in “sameness” with those they may have issues with but essentially if you fight fire with fire…no one comes out a live. Or perhaps instead of the two groups being equally “innocent” they are really equally “guilty”."
ReplyDeleteThis made me think about how much gang violence in L.A. is very much like the conflict in N. Ireland. Gangs in L.A. were formed because of decades of racial suppression and segregation. The conflict between the Bloods and Crips has lasted just as long as The Troubles and still is strong today. Like with the Irish, African American gangs were formed because of a need for identity and because of a huge absence of fathers in families. I just watched a documentary about the history of gangs in L.A. and drew many similarities to the conflict in N. Ireland.
The social wars in both N. Ireland and L.A. were started before many living there today were even born. It is so sad that the Bloods and Crips can't even remember why they started killing each other. The cycle of violence goes on and on because of "fighting fire with fire" and born into an identity. There is such a large grudge held about the past that it is hard to forgive...especially when social injustices are still going on. It is just so sad that people are pushed so far that they feel like violence is the only answer.
Anyways, sorry for rambling. Great post! It really helped me understand a lot about the article that I was completely lost with.
I also really loved reading “Breakfast on Pluto” it way by far the easiest read we had in this course and had some moments of honest hilarity where I found myself laughing aloud. I think that the one reason against my becoming an English major would be the idea of literary criticism in general I think novels are good or bad and when I read a critique I like you find myself just muddled and not even sure if I did like that book in the first place. “Lacanian Pussy” was such an example for me.
ReplyDeleteI also was completely lost on the idea of Pussy protecting people from the “stink of politics” and I didn’t go as far as you did I honestly looked at her fantasy as just comic relief.
I almost agree with you on Pussy’s issue with her family but instead of relating it to Northern Ireland and the struggle for ownership I would relate it more to the sense of home. A family is a steady “place” to go and I think this idea of home was much of the feeling behind the struggles in Northern Ireland.
Hey CD,
ReplyDeleteOkay so first off I would just like to mention the fact that for this week’s blog I did my online artifact and so I did not read Lacanian ‘Pussy’ (Although after reading your little review of it I was very glad of that fact). Anyway, the point being I have absolutely nothing to contribute on the subject of the essay. Having said that one part of your blog that did catch my eye was when you discussed the topic of the significance of “superhero Pussy” and how your idea was completely different from that which was described in “Lacanian Pussy” stating “I totally missed the idea of the stench being political or the image of Irwin’s defecation being symbolized as his ‘caving into the pressure’ or his ‘releasing information that shouldn’t be.’” This part really jumped out at me because, like you, when I read the chapter about “The Lurex Avenger” I believed it to be just another amusingly crazy random fantasy that Pussy had. While its significance did puzzle me after reading it, I just brushed it off and concluded it to be just another indicator of Pussy’s growing insanity. “Pussy’s conception of politics-as-stench is linked to the vision s/he has of Irwin soiling himself during his execution by the IRA for being an informer.” (447) It never occurred to me to link it back to Irwin’s death and the political undertone of the novel, although that should not surprise me considering the fact that the entire novel seemed to link back in one way or another to the theme of political violence.
Celtic Dreamer,
ReplyDeleteSo yaye for being one of the many who missed the political implications the first time round. I guess I was just too busy being amused at a superhero showing up to protect someone from an odious aroma. There were a few dozen things that made me snicker like that though.
You made the comment "Another idea I got from the text is just the continuation of the concept of “ownership” or a sense of “home”. In this book, there was the constant struggle within Northern Ireland, so these constant issues made it difficult for many to feel at ease or at “home”," and I can't help but think about all the problems in Ireland that relate back to the concept of home. Also Third Eye made the comparison between L.A. gangs and the Northern Ireland gangs. I was elated to see these comparisons and I couldn't agree with more!
I guess I'm just rambling here because this criticism seemed to point out things that were so easily overlooked in the original reading of the story. I'm wondering if that was done intentionally... the overlooking part that is. After all if you put out a story that seems to be little more than entertainment for entertainment's sake there is little in the way of political backlash for it. Those however are just my two cents.
WS
CD,
ReplyDeleteI think this is such a great point in your blog this week:
"I found it interesting that Pussy really talked about movies and actors a lot. She was constantly comparing herself to them. I think that this partly reflected Pussy’s wish to “play a role where she could be anyone and anybody she wanted."
I think Pussy's cinematic language and desire to take on the identities of film stars reflects the way in which the Northern Irish conflict takes on this "epic" kind of language. A Loyalist in Northern Ireland bombing a "chipper" is not just that--he's a "freedom fighter," fighting an epic battle against tyranny, blah, blah, blah. Similarly, an IRA bomber is not just a bomber, but caught up in an epic battle between good and evil. Walter Benjamin in his essay, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," speaks to the phenomenon, amongst other things, of the way in which our lives become more like movies (as opposed to movies becoming more like our lives). In other words, we take on the great narratives from films to help fuel our existence. For instance, we want our love lives to be like a romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, but we generally eschew films that show what our love lives are REALLY like. It would be an interesting project to see how film has affected the "language" used to describe the motivations of both groups involved in The Troubles.
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm
ReplyDeleteforgot to post the link to the Benjamin article. Enjoy!