Dreams and Desire for Migration: A Lacanian Reading of Fragmented Body in Sinan Antoon’s The Corpse Washer

Abstract

This paper examines Sinan Antoon’s novel The Corpse Washer through the lens of Jacques Lacan’s concept of the divided subject, as articulated in his theory of identity formation. Lacan claims that a divided identity is revealed in dreams, occurring when the individual’s identity is fragmented within the process of identity formation. The study argues that the recurring dreams experienced by the protagonist, Jawad, particularly those involving his father, his artistic aspirations, and his disturbing nightmares, reflect the split subject marked by lack and unfulfilled desires. Crucially, this Lacanian lack becomes a motivating force for his desire to migrate and emerges as a central expression of his internal conflict. These dreams are not random but saturated with symbolic signifiers that function as metaphors for an unstable self. Ultimately, this study demonstrates how Jawad’s dreams reveal the instability of his identity and how Antoon’s narrative captures the psychological consequences of this fragmentation, especially his tendency toward indecision