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    An "Unthought Known" of Her Own: The Aesthetics of Interruption


    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

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    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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