‘Abjection hurts’: Race, class, gender, and the demand for a contemporary reworking of the Kristevan abject

Margiotta, Chiara

Abstract

This thesis examines Julia Kristeva’s theory of the abject, as outlined in Powers of Horror (1980), through the lens of contemporary American literature, considering the potential problems with the Kristevan abject and the ways in which contemporary work focused on race, class, and gender highlight its limitations as a model for analysis. Occupied with ideas of embodied abjection, disgust, and depersonification, this thesis focuses on texts by Toni Morrison, Jesmyn Ward, Jenny Zhang, David Wojnarowicz, and Darcie Steinke, considering the ways in which they all, thematically, link to abjection, and yet remain outwith the scope of traditional Kristevan analysis. Drawing on work in Black studies, queer studies, and particularly from Imogen Tyler’s ideas of social abjection, this thesis does not attempt to negate the power of abjection studies completely, but rather to highlight the need for a revitalised understanding of the abject, one which incorporates these fields of study, if it is to act as a meaningful tool for the analysis of contemporary writing.

Citation

Margiotta, C. ‘Abjection hurts’: Race, class, gender, and the demand for a contemporary reworking of the Kristevan abject. (Thesis). Edinburgh Napier University

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 21, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 21, 2023
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17869/enu.2023.3175333
• Award Date: Jul 5, 2023