Identity Construction And Unconscious Trauma

As a writer and critic,John Banville is famous for the various themes,unique writing techniques,and elegant language in his novels.The Sea,John Banville’s novel,won the 2005 Man Booker Prize in England.The Sea is a story about Max Morden’s traumatic experience,identity crisis and identity dilemma,reflecting John Banville’s exploration of traumatic experience and consideration of identity.Ever since The Sea’s publication,numerous scholars have interpreted it from different perspectives.Most of these studies primarily focus on psychoanalytic criticism,style,theme,and artistic techniques.Through combing foreign and Chinese achievements in the field,this thesis aims to explore Max Morden’s identity construction and the causes of his identity crisis on the basis of Sigmund Freud’s unconscious theory.Based on the unconscious theory,the main body of this thesis explores the relationship between Max Morden’s unconscious trauma and identity crisis in The Sea.First,the main content of The Sea and Freud’s unconscious theory are briefly introduced.Next,this thesis expounds on the formation of the hero Max Morden’s family trauma,cultural trauma,and trauma of absent self-awareness.This thesis also explores the relationship between Max Morden’s growth pattern and identity crisis.Then,this thesis uses the regressive defense mechanism in the unconscious theory and the phenomena of unconscious trauma to analyze Max Morden’s childhood identity construction and the primary cause of failure.At the same time,this thesis also dissects the identity construction of adult Max Morden in family and culture and his considerations on death.In the end,this thesis draws a conclusion that the traumatic experience can’t be ignored in dealing with the identity crisis,and people are urged to attach importance to the identity crisis,construct identity actively and face life bravely.