Negotiating Irvin Yalom’s existential concerns through the grotesque in selected works of Oscar Wilde and Yukio Mishima
The grotesque and existential concerns are rarely studied alongside each other in the field of literature. History has it that the grotesque has always been associated with aspects which denote negative connotations such as deformity, death, violence or monstrosity. Meanwhile, existentialists str...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/99639/1/SEACH%20JIN%20BENG%20-%20IR.pdf |
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| Summary: | The grotesque and existential concerns are rarely studied alongside each other
in the field of literature. History has it that the grotesque has always been
associated with aspects which denote negative connotations such as deformity,
death, violence or monstrosity. Meanwhile, existentialists struggle to seek the
meaning of life in a world filled with pessimism. The present study concentrates
on the grotesque as a mode of representation and a literary tool for fictional
characters to react to existential concerns. The grotesque will be analysed
alongside four ultimate existential concerns of life, as pointed out by Irvin
Yalom: death, freedom, isolation and meaninglessness. Textual analysis of four
selected texts by Victorian author, Oscar Wilde and Post-war Japanese author
Yukio Mishima namely The Canterville Ghost (1891), The Picture of Dorian
Gray (1892), Confessions of a Mask (1949) and Forbidden Colours (1951) will
be conducted to portray the flexibility of the grotesque as an alternative for the
characters in reacting to existential concerns. Grotesque elements including
misogyny, pederasty, excess and extravagance, carnivalesque, the grotesque
body and narcissism will be studied alongside Yalom’s existential concerns.
This will then show how the male protagonists are able to justify their sense of
existence by reacting to existential concerns through grotesque-inclined
reactions. The findings of this study reveal that the male protagonists from the
selected texts have all undergone changes in reacting to existential concerns
through their grotesque-inclined reactions. Finally, it also suggests that the
grotesque can go beyond its general derogatory meaning and conventional
function as a literary tool. It is because it has the ability to serve as an
alternative reaction for certain individuals in confronting their existential
concerns. |
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