| Anna Burns(1962-)is the first Northern Irish writer who wins the Booker Prize in the UK.Having experienced the political and religious conflicts in Northern Ireland,Burns owns a unique perspective on social legacies and develops a distinctive style of writing.She is best known for her portrayal of the women in the war.Her prize-winning work Milkman describes the story of an eighteen-year-old girl struggling and growing up under complicated social laws.This novel focuses on the female protagonist’s identity,psychological trauma and personal growth.Therefore,this thesis attempts to study the female protagonist’s identity construction in the novel from a psychoanalytic perspective,exploring her personal growth and breakthrough.This thesis adopts the method of close reading and combines Lacanian theory of subject to analyze the process of the female protagonist’s identity construction in the imaginary order,the symbolic order and the real order.Firstly,the thesis analyzes the female protagonist’s identity construction in the imaginary order.The female protagonist does not identify with the images of “men’s accessories”,such as her mother,eldest sister and the groupies in her district.Her maybe-boyfriend,as the object a in the imaginary order,symbolizes the object of her desire and attracts her to construct an independent and equal maybe-girlfriend image.Secondly,this thesis explores the female protagonist’s identity construction in the symbolic order.The identity constructed in the imaginary order is a fantasy and does not exist in the real world.In order to acquire the social identity,she must get the identification of the Other.The female protagonist appreciates the tablets girl’s sister and hopes that the issue women will help other women to get their rights.However,Milkman’s appearance completely destroys her fantasy of constructing an ideal identity,and the rumors caused by Milkman constantly exert pressure on her.In addition,he replaces maybe-boyfriend as the object a in the symbolic order,stimulating the female protagonist to fight for the ideal identity.Meanwhile,he represents the Other’s gaze,forcing her to accept the identity of “men’s accessory” as defined by social laws.Under the oppression of social laws,the female protagonist hopes to escape from Milkman through others’ power.At present,she is just a passive identity constructor who relies on others.Finally,the thesis discusses the female protagonist’s identity construction in the real order.The real order is closely linked to mental trauma,and the oppression of social laws brings indelible trauma to the female protagonist.These traumas are proof of her resistance to the social laws,contributing to her enlightenment,awakening and growth and making her an active identity constructor and a truly independent-minded woman.At this time,the women’s struggle for diverse identities also leads to more positive changes in the district.As the symbol of object a,these changes give the female protagonist confidence and attract her to persistently fight for a hopeful future.Put into the theoretical framework of Lacanian psychological analysis of the subject,this thesis explores the conflict,contradiction and complexity of the female protagonist’s identity construction,uncovers her personal growth and breakthrough,as well as reveals the oppression of women by the patriarchal social laws and the denial of diversity in women’s identities.The female protagonist’s resistance to the oppression of social laws and the trauma she suffers represent women’s struggle and pursuit of an independent and equal identity.The female protagonist changes from a passive identity constructor to an active identity constructor,taking the right of identity construction into her own hands and becoming a truly independent-minded woman.Besides,such a psychoanalytical interpretation may also call on people to pay attention to the psychological trauma and identity aspirations of the vulnerable groups including women in the special time. |
