Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-2001

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

English

Major Professor

David Goslee

Committee Members

Misty Anderson, Jay Dickson

Abstract

Using a Lacanian and French feminist approach, this paper draws parallels between two startlingly different works of literature; Browning's "Childe Roland To the Dark Tower Came" and Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49. Both works have been interpreted as psychological narratives, and from a Lacanian stance, the poem and novel can be read as neurolinguistic journeys. Specifically, Childe Roland's journey to the tower represents his transition from infanthood to the symbolic realm. On the other hand, Oedipa's journey begins at the tower, and she must travel Roland's path in reverse in order to integrate into the semiotic. "Childe Roland" and Lot 49 share common motifs— the quest, the horn, the tower, the lifeless road, the old man—which indicate common psychological stages. A linguistic analysis of the works addresses the stages of the development of language on several levels: From a broad perspective, such an analysis mirrors the sociopolitical environments of the authors, focusing on the ways in which language has influenced and has been influenced by sociological transitions. Moreover, a Lacanian study provides insight into the psychologies of Browning and Pynchon individually and helps to delineate their roles as major literary figures within their respective societies. On a universal level, a comparison of "Childe Roland," a product of pre-Lacanian times, to Lot 49, a post-Lacanian work, reveals that the process of initiation into the linguistic realm is inherent to humanity.

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