The Purloined Letters of Elizabeth Bishop
In this paper I propose to examine several poems by Elizabeth Bishop through the prism of the concept of letter delineated in “Lituraterre”, where Lacan explores the connection between the literal and the littoral in order to draw a key distinction between signifiers which are the semblances involve...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Humanities |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/12/5/117 |
| _version_ | 1797626672712777728 |
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| author | Axel Nesme |
| author_facet | Axel Nesme |
| author_sort | Axel Nesme |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper I propose to examine several poems by Elizabeth Bishop through the prism of the concept of letter delineated in “Lituraterre”, where Lacan explores the connection between the literal and the littoral in order to draw a key distinction between signifiers which are the semblances involved in ordinary communication, and the letter as a precipitate resulting from their breakdown. Insofar as the letter causes “writing effects that are structured around moments of vacillation of semblances” (M-H Roche), such effects may be traced in poems where Bishop focuses on how meaning is set adrift by eliding, displacing or transforming graphemes and phonemes. Her observation that “the names of seashore towns run out to sea” points to the littoral/liminal space of the poetic signifier that straddles enjoyment and meaning. I analyze Bishop’s painterly treatment of mist through the prism of Lacan’s discussion of Japanese calligraphy where the unary brush stroke, which “is the means to clear original Chaos” (E. Laurent), operates as the equivalent of the median void, often represented by fog in Chinese painting, i.e., as an avatar of the littoral that separates knowledge from enjoyment. I conclude with a reading of a poem where the <i>semiosis</i> of mortality hinges on the (dis-)appearance of certain phonemes, inviting us to question the literal/literary destiny of letters when they turn into Joycean litter, and prompting us to revisit Lacan’s familiar aphorism that “a letter always reaches its destination”. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:13:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-22e243f1cbbf4e81a4a6d4c0585b349f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0787 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:13:31Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities |
| spelling | doaj.art-22e243f1cbbf4e81a4a6d4c0585b349f2023-11-16T10:30:09ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872023-10-0112511710.3390/h12050117The Purloined Letters of Elizabeth BishopAxel Nesme0Department of English, Faculty of Languages, Université Lumière-Lyon 2, 69365 Lyon Cedex 07, FranceIn this paper I propose to examine several poems by Elizabeth Bishop through the prism of the concept of letter delineated in “Lituraterre”, where Lacan explores the connection between the literal and the littoral in order to draw a key distinction between signifiers which are the semblances involved in ordinary communication, and the letter as a precipitate resulting from their breakdown. Insofar as the letter causes “writing effects that are structured around moments of vacillation of semblances” (M-H Roche), such effects may be traced in poems where Bishop focuses on how meaning is set adrift by eliding, displacing or transforming graphemes and phonemes. Her observation that “the names of seashore towns run out to sea” points to the littoral/liminal space of the poetic signifier that straddles enjoyment and meaning. I analyze Bishop’s painterly treatment of mist through the prism of Lacan’s discussion of Japanese calligraphy where the unary brush stroke, which “is the means to clear original Chaos” (E. Laurent), operates as the equivalent of the median void, often represented by fog in Chinese painting, i.e., as an avatar of the littoral that separates knowledge from enjoyment. I conclude with a reading of a poem where the <i>semiosis</i> of mortality hinges on the (dis-)appearance of certain phonemes, inviting us to question the literal/literary destiny of letters when they turn into Joycean litter, and prompting us to revisit Lacan’s familiar aphorism that “a letter always reaches its destination”.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/12/5/117Lacanliteratureletterlittoral |
| spellingShingle | Axel Nesme The Purloined Letters of Elizabeth Bishop Humanities Lacan literature letter littoral |
| title | The Purloined Letters of Elizabeth Bishop |
| title_full | The Purloined Letters of Elizabeth Bishop |
| title_fullStr | The Purloined Letters of Elizabeth Bishop |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Purloined Letters of Elizabeth Bishop |
| title_short | The Purloined Letters of Elizabeth Bishop |
| title_sort | purloined letters of elizabeth bishop |
| topic | Lacan literature letter littoral |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/12/5/117 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT axelnesme thepurloinedlettersofelizabethbishop AT axelnesme purloinedlettersofelizabethbishop |