Symbolization and its discontents: An exploration of symbolic experience and poetic expression (Anne Sexton, Adrienne Rich)

Symbolic capacity has been viewed as central to optimal development and psychological health. Disturbances in the capacity to form and use symbols has been discussed in psychoanalytic theory as one of the major symptoms of emotional disturbance. Object Relations Theory, including the work of Melanie Klein, D. W. Winnicott, Marion Milner, Hanna Segal, Wilfred Bion, and Ignacio Matte-Blanco, understands symbol formation as critical in the development of both the self and relationships with others. In this model, the use of symbols is a feature of the depressive position. French theorists Jacques Lacan and Julia Kristeva discuss language and the Symbolic as a fundamental aspect of subjectivity which at once constitutes the subject and alienates the subject from itself. This study explores a particular phenomenon in which the capacity to use symbols exists but does not help in the creation of subjectivity. Specifically, creativity is explored as a paradoxical experience which can be both psychologically useful yet also potentially damaging. Using the lives and work of poets Anne Sexton and Adrienne Rich, the author hypothesizes two different modes of symbolic experience which are termed the "alienated symbolic" and the "integrative symbolic." Using Winnicott's concept of transitional space, Ogden's concept of the "third" area of experience, and Kristeva's theory of the semiotic in language, the author argues that Rich is able, through the use of writing poetry and journals, to forge connection with others and establish a strong sense of self; on the other hand, Anne Sexton, whose capacity to form symbols was intact, used writing to evacuate unconscious material rather than integrate it. Thus, writing was alienating for her rather than integrative. The author analyzes aspects of each poet's life and work to illustrate her ideas. Textual analysis is also done exploring specific uses of metaphor, metonymy, and other poetic devices. Sexton's suicide is seen as the ultimate failure of writing for her, while Rich's political activism and vitality are understood as signs of the potential power of creative work.