An Intertextuality Study Between Chekhov's Novels And Lacan's Psychoanalysis Theory

The intertextuality theory is a new theory of literary review in the present age , which mainly analyzes the relation between two texts. It brought about a great impact upon contemporary literalry criticism due to the width of its analysis and the originality of thinking mode. Both Chekhov and Lacan used to be doctors , and they left cultural heritages behind them which have strong intertextuality .Chekhov's works have modernistic embodiment , but his psychological descriptions have not been studied profoundly. Lacan's psychoanalysis theory was directed at how human beings, as subjects, can become subjects. Focused on this center, the unique and profound Lacan's psychoanalysis theory has been formed in the post-modern context, which aims at humans'mental world. The mention of the works by both Chekhov and Lacan in the same breath is an attempt of studying crossing subjects , which is the weakness in the applications of intertextuality theory.The mental world of the heroes in Chekhov's novels Uneven Mirror and Mirror are in compliance with the mirroring stage and the post-mirroring stage. Lacan's mirroring theory divided the subject's psychological development into three stages: pre-mirroring stage, mirroring stage and post-mirroring stage. The hero of the former novel remained at the mirroring stage, only identifying the self in the mirror and resulting in a tragedy. The hero in the latter novel stepped into the post-mirroring stage, admitting that others may build the self and therefore imagining a life of the self.Lacan and the fate of death of everyone. Chekhove's The lady Carrying a Puppy and Neighbors both demonstrate one kind of imaginary"viewing"vividly with the aid of characters'psychological description,and Lacan descripted this imaginary"viewing"as"gazing". Lacan believed that the subject's watching is not only a kind of visual physiologic"viewing", but a kind of imaginary"gazing"as well. The"gazing"is of intersubjectivity, which is regarded as a psychological experience in how others people see him and a spatial position of others'viewing existing in the subject's mind. Lacan'self's ideal and Ideal self are vividly reflected and expressed in the mental world of the heroes in the Sixth Ward and The Duchess.In the process of the subject's forming self, self's ideal and ideal self are indispensable factors. Ideal self is formed with the identity of narcissism whereas self's ideal are formed with the identity of others. As for unconsciousness, Lacan brought forward two amazing propositions:"unconsciousness is words of other people"and"unconsciousness possesses linguistic structure". However, these two difficult propositions correspond to the elusive and mysterious mental world of the hero in The Black Friar. The connotations of these two seemingly difficult propositions are skillfully disclosed in the description of the hero's weird psychology. The hero Ilka in Unnecessary Victory died from the unconscious longing for becoming a duchess and being respected. The heroin Liza in Live Commodity ran between two man in the process of being wanted desire of others, forming an abnormal family finally.With the understanding of Lacan's psychoanalytic theory and the interpretation of Chekhov's literacy works, their intertextuality is not only found to be very noticeable but also complementary to each other.,which aptly interpretates Lacan's unintelligible theory, facilitates our understanding and use of the theory. Moreover, some dormant works by Chekhov have been exploited and some other related works have been further analyzed as to reveal Chekhov's perceptivity and extraordinary achievements in grasping and exploitation of human's mental world. Meanwhile, this research also verifies the applicability and feasibility of intertextuality theory, which may promote its development.