Subjectivity in Elif Shafak’s 10 Minutes and 38 Seconds In This Strange World: A Lacanian Reading
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Abstract
Objectives: The current study tries to dispute the premise that modern autobiographical writings by Turkish citizens living outside Turkey promote a universalizing, dehumanizing, and hegemonic picture of the nation. The main objective is to investigate the complexities of subjectivity and the formation of identities of Shafak's characters through Lacan's conceptions of the Real, the Imaginary, and the Symbolic.
Methods: This study adopts Lacan's subjectivity to analyze the progression of the main characters in Shafak's novel as a response to the prevailing conflicts between various psychological and societal realms.
Results: The study shows that unconscious conflicts from various psychological orders consistently trap Binnaz and Humeyra. Leila and Osman can reaffirm their subjectivity while simultaneously infiltrating the symbolic order.
Conclusions: The current study states that Elif Shafak's novel presents a character depiction that rejects the notion of permanent identities and shows characters with various and nuanced subjectivities. This concept is in contrast to the conventional conception of fixed identities.
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