Sullivan, Moynagh
(2012)
An "Unthought Known" of Her Own:
The Aesthetics of Interruption.
Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 13.
pp. 106-111.
ISSN 1524-0657
Abstract
Although Baraitser (2009) investigates interruption as a condition of maternal subjectivity, this essay
concerns itself with how maternal presence itself can interrupt aesthetic practice. Reading Baraitser
with and through the work of the Northern Irish poet Medbh McGuckian, I interweave the aesthetic
with the philosophical and psychoanalytical possibilities of taking "maternity as the norm" that
Baraitser so suggestively explores (p. 10). McGuckian’s poetry, I argue, answers Baraitser’s question
when she asks what kind of subjectivity emerges "when we live in close proximity" to a child and
"are somehow responsible for them, too" (p. 11). Also calling upon the careful and enabling work
of Christopher Bollas, this essay explores through the poetry how the "unthought known" or the
"maternal aesthetic" described by Bollas as "the first if not the earliest human aesthetic" (Bollas,
1987, p. 32 can also be supplemented in light of Baraitser’s evocative thesis.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Additional Information: |
The definitive version of this article is available at Moynagh Sullivan Ph.D. (2012) An “Unthought Known” of Her Own: The Aesthetics
of Interruption, Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 13:2, 106-111, DOI: 10.1080/15240657.2012.682923 |
| Keywords: |
Poetry; Aesthetics; Interruption; Medbh McGuckian; Irish Women Poets; literary criticism; Ireland; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > School of English, Media & Theatre Studies |
| Item ID: |
5608 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1080/15240657.2012.682923 |
| Depositing User: |
Moynagh Sullivan
|
| Date Deposited: |
10 Dec 2014 16:03 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Studies in Gender and Sexuality |
| Publisher: |
Routledge |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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