MEN AVOIDING LOVE IN JOSEPH CONRAD’S VICTORY AND YUSUF ATILGAN’S AN IDLE MAN
Abstract
As profoundly self-conscious and reflective men, Axel Heyst in Joseph Conrad’s Victory and C. in Yusuf Atılgan’s Idle Man are immobilized and incapacitated by their excessive reflective faculty and suffer from disappointment in their romantic relationships due to their avoidant attachment styles. Lacking a caring mother figure who could provide them with loving compassion, they are brought up by emotionally unavailable fathers who are clearly not attuned to the needs of their sons. So while growing up their attachment needs are clearly not met by their primary caregiver who neglects and occasionally abuses them instead. Growing up to become “avoidant” adults, they experience problems with intimacy, invest little in social and romantic relationships and are unable or unwilling to share thoughts and feelings with others.
In what follows, I will examine comparatively
the psychological dynamics underlying Heyst’s and C.’s avoidant attachment
styles and explore how their gender performances are fraught with anxieties and
insecurities. Ultimately, I argue that the traumatic deprivations of Heyst’s
and C.’ childhoods significantly hamper their ability to form strong and
lasting emotional bonds, making it impossible for them to find satisfaction in
romantic relationships.
Keywords
References
- Atılgan, Yusuf (2017). Aylak Adam. İstanbul: Can.
- American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th Ed.). Washingston DC: American Psychiatric Association.
- Bromberg, Philip (2010). Commentary on Carola M. Kaplan’s “Navigating Trauma in Joseph Conrad's Victory: A Voyage from Sigmund Freud to Philip M. Bromberg”. Psychoanalytic Dialogues: The International Journal of Relational Perspectives, Vol. 20, Iss. 4, pp. 449-455.
- Conrad, Joseph (1995). Victory. London: Penguin.
- Harrington, Ellen Burton (2017). Conrad’s Sensational Heroines: Gender and Representation in the Late Fiction of Joseph Conrad. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Kantor, Martin (2003). Distancing: Avoidant Personality Disorder, Revised and Expanded. London: Praeger.
- Kaplan, Carola M. (2010). “Navigating Trauma in Joseph Conrad’s Victory: A Voyage from Sigmund Freud to Philip M. Bromberg”. Psychoanalytic Dialogues: The International Journal of Relational Perspectives. Vol. 20, Iss. 4, pp. 441-448.
- Knowles, Owen (1975). “Conrad’s Anatomy of Woman: Some Notes on Victory”. The Journal of the Joseph Conrad Society (U.K.), Vol. 2, Iss. 1, pp. 3-6.
Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Creative Arts and Writing
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
Hatice Övgü Tüzün
0000-0001-9911-7775
Türkiye
Publication Date
January 31, 2019
Submission Date
October 10, 2018
Acceptance Date
December 5, 2018
Published in Issue
Year 2019 Volume: 20 Number: 36