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An Analysis of Meursault's Subjective Predicament from the Perspective of Lacan's Triad of the Real-Symbolic-Imaginary-A Case Study of Part One of The Stranger

Author(s)

Yulin Wang

Affiliation(s)

Chinese Language and Literature, China University of Labor Relations, Beijing, China

Abstract

This paper employs Lacan's triad of the Real, the Symbolic, and the Imaginary as its theoretical framework to analyze Meursault's subjective predicament in the first part of The Stranger. Meursault's subjectivity in the Symbolic oscillates between passive suture and active distancing, while he indulges in sensory experiences within the Imaginary in order to avoid the traumatic Real of his mother's death. However, when the defensive mechanisms of both the Symbolic and the Imaginary fail, the unsymbolizable trauma of the Real erupts in the form of irrational violence. Meursault's “outsider” stance tragically embodies the subject's struggle within the fissures among the three orders. This stance reveals the profound impact of the modern symbolic order on the subject's psychic structure.

Keywords

Meursault; Lacan; The Triad of the Real-Symbolic-Imaginary; Subjectivity; The Stranger

References

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