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A noisy subject : reading identity in the "Nausicaa" and "Circe" episodes of Ulysses Gibson, Matt Douglas
Abstract
Reading Ulysses forces an awareness of the indeterminacy of meaning, thus problematizing readings that assign the text a communicative function. In order to consider the multiplicity of readings required by Ulysses without tracing the implications of every interpretive possibility, this analysis theorizes the text in the terms of information theory; redundancy and noise are used to discuss how indeterminate readings “communicate” a set of binary oppositions. Each attempt to assign the text a mimetic status is frustrated by redundancies that require other readings, thereby producing noise. Reading is always incomplete, always in process; the text produces not identities but rather processes of identification. This methodology is developed with reference to readings of “Nausicaa” and “Circe.” Readings of both episodes are seen to produce not characters (identities) but rather roles: an association of a name (“Gerty” or “Leopold,” for example) with a positioning within a binary (male/female, occidental/oriental, desire/desired etc.). While roles are always a product of indeterminate readings, the binary oppositions that inform them remain stable. This fixity may be read as an ideology that underlies the formation of roles by/from the text. Thus, reading Ulysses engages a process of identification that imposes a (de)limitation of subjectivity without the formation of identity.
Item Metadata
Title |
A noisy subject : reading identity in the "Nausicaa" and "Circe" episodes of Ulysses
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1994
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Description |
Reading Ulysses forces an awareness of the indeterminacy of meaning,
thus problematizing readings that assign the text a communicative function.
In order to consider the multiplicity of readings required by Ulysses
without tracing the implications of every interpretive possibility, this
analysis theorizes the text in the terms of information theory; redundancy
and noise are used to discuss how indeterminate readings “communicate” a
set of binary oppositions. Each attempt to assign the text a mimetic status
is frustrated by redundancies that require other readings, thereby producing
noise. Reading is always incomplete, always in process; the text produces
not identities but rather processes of identification.
This methodology is developed with reference to readings of
“Nausicaa” and “Circe.” Readings of both episodes are seen to produce not
characters (identities) but rather roles: an association of a name (“Gerty” or
“Leopold,” for example) with a positioning within a binary (male/female,
occidental/oriental, desire/desired etc.). While roles are always a product
of indeterminate readings, the binary oppositions that inform them remain
stable. This fixity may be read as an ideology that underlies the formation
of roles by/from the text. Thus, reading Ulysses engages a process of
identification that imposes a (de)limitation of subjectivity without the
formation of identity.
|
Extent |
910560 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-02-25
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0099121
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1994-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.