Living a ruined life: De Quincey beyond the worst

ISSN： 1050-9585

Source： European Romantic Review, Vol.20, Iss.2, 2009-04, pp. : 177-186

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

Suspiria de Profundis explores the territory beyond trauma: De Quincey claims to have fully absorbed the intolerable in the form the death of his sister Elizabeth. By this logic, Suspiria accounts for what happens when the mind does understand what no one should be able to understand. Mirroring rather than anticipating trauma theory, De Quincey describes a realm in which full understanding cannot lead to metabolization and moving on, and working through is undesirable and impossible. Instead, Suspiria attacks supposedly inevitable categories of nature which are overshadowed by the reality of Elizabeth's death, including male/female difference and the animal/human distinction. De Quincey's death writing thereby produces an unnatural and often explicitly queer alternative to working through loss.