Bulletin of Hispanic Studies

Lacanian Textuality in Carlos Fuentes's Aura and Henry James's The Turn of the Screw

Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (2006), 83, (4), 385–400.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3828/bhs.83.4.6
Language
English
Pages
16

Abstract

This study offers a new reading of Carlos Fuentes's Gothic novella Aura with an intertextual approach that focuses on Henry James's The Turn of the Screw and, in particular, on Shoshana Felman's seminal essay on that text. Concentrating on Fuentes's use of the second-person singular narrative — the most striking formal aspect of the text — my reading argues against the common tendency of critics to resolve the identity of the narrator. Instead, this study contends that Fuentes's persistence with the second-person narrative is aimed at replicating a textual practice akin to the Lacanian notion of the text as the Unconscious or the Other. In a way that profoundly echoes Felman's reading of James — the latter an acknowledged influence on Aura — the metamorphoses of the characters and, crucially, the narrator in Fuentes's text, can be read as metaphors for transference and, therefore, as an exploration of the process of identity construction via language.

El propósito de este artículo es elaborar una nueva interpretación intertextual de Aura, la breve novela gótica de Carlos Fuentes, centrada en Otra vuelta de tuerca de Henry James, y, en particular, en el influyente ensayo de Shoshana Felman sobre este texto. Basándose en el uso que Fuentes hace de la narración a segunda persona singular — el aspecto formal más destacado del texto — mi lectura de Aura contradice la tendencia de la crítica a intentar solucionar la identidad de la voz narrativa. Por el contrario, en este estudio se plantea que el persistente recurso de Fuentes a la narración a segunda persona tiene como objetivo replicar una práctica textual afín a la noción Lacaniana del texto como el Inconsciente o el Otro. Haciéndose eco de la lectura que Felman hace de James — éste una reconocida influencia sobre Aura —, las metamorfosis de los personajes y, de suma importancia, del narrador en el texto de Fuentes, pueden leerse como metáforas de la transferencia y, por tanto, como exploración del proceso de construcción de la identidad a través del lenguaje.

Access Token

FormatArticle

£25.00
READ THIS ARTICLE
References
Full Text
PDF
If you have private access to this content, please log in with your username and password here

Derrida, Jacques, 1987. 'Le facteur de la vérité', in The Postcard: From Socrates to Freud and beyond (Chicago/ London: U of Chicago P), pp. 411–96. Le facteur de la vérité The Postcard: From Socrates to Freud and beyond 411 96 Google Scholar

Dumas, fils, Alexandre, n.d. The Lady of the Camellias (London: Heron). Google Scholar

Felman, Shoshana, 1982. 'Turning the Screw of Interpretation', in Literature and Psychoanalysis: The Question of Reading: Otherwise (Baltimore/ London: Johns Hopkins UP), pp. 94–207. Turning the Screw of Interpretation Literature and Psychoanalysis: The Question of Reading: Otherwise 94 207 Google Scholar

Fuentes, Carlos, 1965 [1962]. Aura (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Google Scholar

Fuentes, Carlos, 1983. 'On Reading and Writing Myself: How I Wrote Aura', World Literature Today, 57.4: 531–39. On Reading and Writing Myself: How I Wrote Aura World Literature Today 57 531 39 Google Scholar

Fuentes, Carlos, 1986 [1962]. Aura, intro. Peter Standish (Durham, NC: Duke UP). Google Scholar

Grosz, Elizabeth, 1990. Jacques Lacan: A Feminist Introduction (London: Routledge). Jacques Lacan: A Feminist Introduction Google Scholar

Lacan, Jacques, 1977. The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis (London: Hogarth). The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis Google Scholar

López Landeira, Ricardo, 1975. 'Aura, The Aspern Papers, "A Rose for Emily": A Literary Relationship', Journal of Spanish Studies: Twentieth Century, 3: 125–43. Aura, The Aspern Papers, "A Rose for Emily": A Literary Relationship Journal of Spanish Studies: Twentieth Century 3 125 43 Google Scholar

Oliveira, Celso de, 1981. 'Carlos Fuentes and Henry James: The Sense of the Past', Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture and Theory, 37.3: 237–44. Carlos Fuentes and Henry James: The Sense of the Past Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture and Theory 37 237 44 Google Scholar

Veeder, William R., 1998. 'James and Fame Enduring', The Henry James Review, 19.3: 264–78. James and Fame Enduring The Henry James Review 19 264 78 Google Scholar

If you have private access to this content, please log in with your username and password here

Details

Author details

Penn, Sheldon