After Abjection

: Life Writing, Art, and Psychoanalytic Thought

Abstract

Framed by Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection, as detailed within The Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, this thesis will explore three case studies of subjects who have encountered the abject as described within their biographical and literary writing. To develop Kristeva’s theory further, this thesis will shift the focus for analysis forward in its chronology to introduce the concept of ‘after abjection’, through combining Kristeva’s theory of abjection with Sigmund Freud’s theories of ‘repetition compulsion’ and ‘working through’. The first text explored is Francis Bacon in Your Blood, an autobiographical memoir in which Michael Peppiatt details his experiences of Francis Bacon as both an artist and friend. The thesis then turns to consider Annie Ernaux’s memoir Happening, which is dedicated to her traumatic experiences of undergoing an illegal abortion. Following these autobiographical case studies, the thesis will thereafter turn to two fictional texts by Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, alongside her biography Private Demons, written by Judy Oppenheimer. Building on the textual analysis, the thesis will then consider the role of communication in after abjection. It will posit the communicative level on which these texts function as being key to the subject both repeating the experience and working through it. Finally, the thesis will conclude with asserting that the compulsion to repeat after abjection is fuelled by the jouissance of the abject, which renders the subject unable to escape the pull towards repeating the experience through their writing and actions in order to continue working through it and attempt to satiate the appetite for abject jouissance.

Date of Award	10 Jan 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Winchester
Supervisor	Daniel Varndell (Supervisor) & Emile Bojesen (Supervisor)