Abstract:
Foucault’s Dialetic of Madness in Durrell’s “Zero” and “Asylum
In The Snow”:
The Liberations of Helplessness and the Restrictions of Freedom
by
James Gifford
Prior to the writing of The Black Book, Lawrence Durrell wrote
a pair of "short stories" which, along with some of his poetry, can claim
a unique place in the canon as among the first successful ventures into
surrealism written in the English language. The short story pair, “Zero”
and “Asylum In The Snow,” are demonstrative of a remarkable prescience
regarding the role of the individual or artist within the realm of social
constructs. Within the scope of 1936 to 1937--when both works were written--modernist
tendencies toward viewing social rebellion as a striving toward a greater
perfectibility were still dominant, and Michel Foucault and Albert Camus'
reasoning of the act of rebellion had not yet come to light. The
social alterity depicted in "Zero" and "Asylum in the Snow" is indicative
of a deconstruction of the valuation process in regard to social moeurs,
and inner and outer spaces. Moreover, as the first works being considered
in this tracing of the development of epistemological skepticism, this
view on rebellion, and the arbitrariness of social constructs demonstrates
the first steps toward a questioning of the assumption of intrinsic qualities.
With both the positions of social acceptance and alterity being viewed
as constructs, they lose their role in the modernist sense of development
toward that which is perfect, or better. Within such a context, these
valuative terms cease to function or hold meaning. Durrell’s primary technique
in the story pair is a deconstruction of the alterity of madness and an
examination of its kinship to the creative act. This process is a realization
of the essentially constructed boundaries between the inner artistic or
mad forms of reality, and their conflict with the outer social realms which
exert control over external expressions of inner truths.
Deus Loci 7 (1999-2000): 70-92.
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