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Show JIGSAW SUBJECTS: WOOLF'S SUBJECTIVITIES Kirsten L. Arcilesi (Gerda Sounders), Gen-der Studies, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 84112 Theorists dispute: What is the definition of the term postmodernism? And, is the definition differentiable from the defi-nition of modernism? Simply put, are modernism and postmodernism two different phenomena? Or, are they only two exchangeable words describing the same thing? I will claim that postmod-ernism and modernism are two de-finitive terms. Theorists define Virginia Woolf's texts, for example, as both post-modern and modern not because of postmodern ism's elusive definition, but because of Woolf's construction of sub-jects. Because she was a woman, she, somehow, creates subjects differently in her texts than male modernists. In To The Lighthouse, Woolf writes mod-ern or fascist subjects: subjects with a unified voice. She also, however, writes postmodern or fragmented subjects who are not constructed by a single voice or consciousness, but alter subjectivities throughout the novel. Thus, by point-ing out these particular subjects, Woolf's texts can be viewed as either postmod-ern or modern. So, if postmodernism and modernism are two different categories, which one defines Woolf's texts? If Woolf's texts must be either postmodern or modern, if the stalemate must be resolved, an-other element besides her construction of subjects must be considered. By us-ing Jacques Lacan's psychoanalytic the-ories, I will show how Woolf's subjectivi-ties can be either fragmented or fascist, but also how certain elements of her structure have specifically postmodern attributes. Through my analysis, I will show why Woolf's structures are more clearly de-fined under postmodernism and, thus, why a difference between postmodern-ism and modernism is necessary. "TWO DREAMYUMS IN ONE DROMI-UM:" JOYCE AND FREUD, DREAM AND TEXT Bret Brinkman, Department of English, University of Utah, Salt Lake City Utah, 84112 In writing Finnegans Wake, James Joyce famously wanted to examine the world of dreams. Throughout the book, Joyce is constantly engaged in the conflation of dreams and texts. Dreams become texts to be read and interpreted just as texts become lived experiences in a dream world. I use this ongoing rela-tionship between dream and textuality as a means for reading Joyce's magnum opus. Issues of language, interpretation, and narrative will be analyzed as paral-lel components of both dream and text. For this presentation I have excerpted a section from my Honors Thesis that fo-cuses on the parallel approaches to the relationship between dream and text by Joyce and Sigmund Freud. I first ana-lyze Joyce's interest in dream interpre-tation through Ulysses (1922) and onto Finnegans Wake (1939), suggesting that Joyce's interest in dreams is related to his broader interest in interpretation. I then juxtapose Joyce's approach with Freud's theories of dreams, especially some of the ideas suggested in his Interpretation of Dreams. By means of this approach, I ultimately point to some interesting af-finities between the two writers in their use of dreams and texts. |