Self-writing in Sylvia Plath's ficion
A reading of the short story A caixinha de desejos
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55847/6q8grv25Keywords:
Self-Writing, Fiction, Sylvia PlathAbstract
This paper proposes an interpretation of Sylvia Plath’s short story A Caixinha de Desejos as a form of fictional self-writing, in which the author explores her own emotional state in relation to her troubled marriage. Often associated with the generation of confessional poets, Plath drew on her personal experiences as inspiration for both her poetry and narratives, giving them an autobiographical nature. Based on Foucault’s (2006a; 2006b) perspective on different models of self-writing, that is, practices through which individuals records and reflects on their life, this study discusses Foucault's concept and subsequently considers A Caixinha de Desejos as a fiction in which Plath contemplates the frustrations and strains of her marital life over time. Thus, the hypothesis of this study is that A Caixinha de Desejos is an example of self-writing, in which the author examines and transforms her inner world, converting her experiences into art and deepening her self-understanding.
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References
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FOUCAULT, Michel. A Hermenêutica do Sujeito. Tradução de Márcio Alves da Fonseca e Salma Tannus Muchail. 2. ed. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2006b.
GILL, Jo. The Cambridge Introduction to Sylvia Plath. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
MCCRUM, Robert. Ted Hughes Final Lines to Sylvia Plath. The Guardian, 10 de outubro de 2010. Disponível em: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/10/ted-hughes-last-letter-sylvia-plath. Acesso em: 2 nov. 2024.
PLATH, Sylvia. A Caixinha de Desejos. In: PLATH, Sylvia. Johnny Panic e a Bíblia dos Sonhos e Outros Textos em Prosa. Tradução de Ana Guadalupe. São Paulo: Biblioteca Azul, 2020. p. 61-71.
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