Research Article | | Peer-Reviewed

In Search of the "Other" into the Night: A Study of the Double in a Polyphonic Perspective

Received: 16 January 2024     Accepted: 2 February 2024     Published: 30 May 2024
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

From the perspective of psychology, the individual becomes conscious of or rethinks about themselves in the relationship with their double, represented artistically through conflicts that constitute the human psyche. From the perspective of the philosophy of language, especially the Russian scholar Mikhail Bakhtin, the double consists of the fear of others, that is, the image others make of the subject. Whichever the perspective adopted is, the literary work, as it represents the man and his world, provides an effective means of understanding the subject’s conflicts and existential and identity crises evidenced in the discourses registered in the aesthetic object. This paper intends to analyze how duplicity-understood here as multiplied consciousness-takes place among characters in the narrative of Night, by the Brazilian author Erico Verissimo, in which the duplicated individual is the sign of a fragmented self. The aim is to examine which enunciative-discursive positions the protagonist assumes in the narrative to emphasize the duplicity of the subject from a polyphonic perspective; that is, by the biases of philosophy, psychology, and psychoanalysis and philosophy of language. As theoretical support for the examination of the double, we invite authors who navigate through philosophy, such as Clément Rosset; psychology and psychoanalysis, such as Otto Rank, Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, and C. F. Keppler; and, in the field of philosophy of language, Mikhail M. Bakhtin. Although the theorists adopt different views in re-examining the double, the approach is possible given that most admit certain correlations regarding the subject of otherness.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 12, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.13
Page(s) 52-68
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Brazilian Literature, Identity Crisis, Double, Polyphony, Night, Erico Verissimo

References
[1] Bachelard, Gaston. The Poetics of Space. 1994 edition, Beacon Press, 1994.
[2] Bakhtin, Mikhail. Aesthetics of Verbal Creativity. 1st ed, Art Publisher, 1979.
[3] Bakhtin, Mikhail. “Discourse in Dostoevsky.” Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics: Theory and History of Literature, First edition, vol. 8, University Of Minnesota Press, 1984.
[4] Bakhtin, Mikhail. “Dostoevsky's Polyphonic Novel and Its Treatment in Critical Literature” Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics: Theory and History of Literature, First edition, vol. 8, University Of Minnesota Press, 1984.
[5] Bakhtin, Mikhail. “Epos e romance: sobre a metodologia do estudo do romance.” Questões de literatura e de estética: a teoria do romance [“Epic and Novel: Toward a Methodology for the Study of the Novel”. Questions of Literature and Aesthetics: Theory of the Novel]. Translated by Aurora Fornoni Bernardini et al. 2nd ed. HUCITEC, 2014.
[6] Bakhtin, Mikhail. “The Hero, and the Position of the Author With Regard to the Hero, in Dostoevsky’s Art.” Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics: Theory and History of Literature, First edition, vol. 8, University Of Minnesota Press, 1984.
[7] Benjamin, Walter. Obras Escolhidas III: Charles Baudelaire Um Lírico No Auge Do Capitalismo [Selected Works III: Charles Baudelaire: A Lyric Poet in the Era of High Capitalism]. 3rd ed., Brasiliense, 1994.
[8] Braga, Adolfo. “Prisioneiros”. A Liberdade De Escrever: Entrevistas Sobre Literatura E Política [“Prisioners.” The Freedom of Writing: Interviews on Literature and Politics], by Bordini, Maria da Glória, Editora UFRGS, 1997.
[9] Bravo, Nicole Fernandez. “Duplo.” Dicionário de mitos literários [“Double.” Dictionary of Literary Myths], by Brunel, Pierre (org.). Transalted by C. Sussekind, et al. José Olympio, 2005.
[10] Calvino, Italo. Six Memos for the Next Millennium. 1st ed., Harvard University Press, 1988.
[11] Chevalier, Jean, and Gheerbrant, Alain. Dicionário De Símbolos [Dictionary of Symbols]. Translated by Vera da Costa e Silva, 10th ed., José Olympio, 1996.
[12] Durand, Gilbert. The Anthropological Structures of the Imaginary. Translated by Margaret Sankey and Judith Hatten, Boombana Publications, 1999.
[13] Eco, Umberto. “Mirrors.” Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language, Indiana University Press, 1986.
[14] Foucault, Michel. De Outros Espaços: Conferência Proferida por Michel Foucault no Cercle D’Études Architecturales in 14 March 1967 [Of Other Spaces: Lecture by Michel Foucault at the Circle of Architectural Studies in 14 March 1967]. Diacritics, 1986,
[15] Franz, M - L. von. “The Process of Individuation”. Man And His Symbols, by Jung, Carl G., et. al. 1964. 5th ptg., Aldus Books Limited, 1971.
[16] Freud, Sigmund. “The Uncanny.” The Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, 1st ed., W. W. Norton and Company, 1976.
[17] Jung, Carl G., et al. “Approaching the unconscious”. Man And His Symbols. 1964. 5th ptg., Aldus Books Limited, 1971.
[18] Jung, Carl G., et al. Man And His Symbols. 1964. 5th ptg., Aldus Books Limited, 1971.
[19] Kalina, Eduardo, and Kovadloff, Santiago. O Dualismo [The Dualism]. Francisco Alves, 1989.
[20] Keppler, Carl. F. The Literature of the Second Self. The University of Arizona Press, 1972.
[21] Lamas, Berenice Sica. O duplo em Lygia Fagundes Telles: um estudo em Literatura e Psicologia [The double in Lygia Fagundes Telles: a study in Literature and Psychology]. EDIPUCRS, 2004.
[22] “Provérbios” [“Proverbs”]. Bíblia Sagrada. Paulus, Edição Pastoral.
[23] Rank, Otto. Double: A Psychoanalytic Study. Translated by: Harry Tucker Jr., New edition, University of North Carolina Press Enduring Editions, 2009.
[24] Rosset, Clément. O Real E Seu Duplo [The Real and Its Double]. Translated by José Thomaz Brum, José Olímpio, 1985.
[25] Santo Agostinho. “Confissões, Livro XI” [“Confessions, Book XI”]. Abbaye Saint Benoit,
[26] Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Jaico Publishing House, 2002.
[27] Stoker, Bram. Dracula (Wordsworth Classics). New ed, Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1997.
[28] Todorov, Tzvetan. The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre. Cornell University Press, 1975.
[29] Verissimo, Erico. Noite [Night]. Companhia das Letras, 2005.
[30] Verissimo, Erico. Night. 1954. Translated by L. L. Barrett. Arco Publishers Limited, 1956.
[31] Verissimo, Erico. Solo de clarineta [Clarinet Solo]. Companhia das Letras, 2005a.
[32] Volóchinov, Valentin (Círculo de Bakhtin). "Marxismo e filosofia da linguagem: problemas fundamentais do método sociológico na ciência da linguagem.” [(Bakhtin Circle) “Marxism and the Philosophy of Language: Fundamental Problems of the Sociological Method in the Science of Language”]. Editora 34, 2017.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Novroth, A. L. M. (2024). In Search of the "Other" into the Night: A Study of the Double in a Polyphonic Perspective. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 12(3), 52-68. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.13

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Novroth, A. L. M. In Search of the "Other" into the Night: A Study of the Double in a Polyphonic Perspective. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2024, 12(3), 52-68. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.13

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Novroth ALM. In Search of the "Other" into the Night: A Study of the Double in a Polyphonic Perspective. Int J Lit Arts. 2024;12(3):52-68. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.13

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.13,
      author = {Ana Lúcia Macedo Novroth},
      title = {In Search of the "Other" into the Night: A Study of the Double in a Polyphonic Perspective
    },
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {12},
      number = {3},
      pages = {52-68},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20241203.13},
      abstract = {From the perspective of psychology, the individual becomes conscious of or rethinks about themselves in the relationship with their double, represented artistically through conflicts that constitute the human psyche. From the perspective of the philosophy of language, especially the Russian scholar Mikhail Bakhtin, the double consists of the fear of others, that is, the image others make of the subject. Whichever the perspective adopted is, the literary work, as it represents the man and his world, provides an effective means of understanding the subject’s conflicts and existential and identity crises evidenced in the discourses registered in the aesthetic object. This paper intends to analyze how duplicity-understood here as multiplied consciousness-takes place among characters in the narrative of Night, by the Brazilian author Erico Verissimo, in which the duplicated individual is the sign of a fragmented self. The aim is to examine which enunciative-discursive positions the protagonist assumes in the narrative to emphasize the duplicity of the subject from a polyphonic perspective; that is, by the biases of philosophy, psychology, and psychoanalysis and philosophy of language. As theoretical support for the examination of the double, we invite authors who navigate through philosophy, such as Clément Rosset; psychology and psychoanalysis, such as Otto Rank, Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, and C. F. Keppler; and, in the field of philosophy of language, Mikhail M. Bakhtin. Although the theorists adopt different views in re-examining the double, the approach is possible given that most admit certain correlations regarding the subject of otherness.
    },
     year = {2024}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - In Search of the "Other" into the Night: A Study of the Double in a Polyphonic Perspective
    
    AU  - Ana Lúcia Macedo Novroth
    Y1  - 2024/05/30
    PY  - 2024
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.13
    T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    SP  - 52
    EP  - 68
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2331-057X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.13
    AB  - From the perspective of psychology, the individual becomes conscious of or rethinks about themselves in the relationship with their double, represented artistically through conflicts that constitute the human psyche. From the perspective of the philosophy of language, especially the Russian scholar Mikhail Bakhtin, the double consists of the fear of others, that is, the image others make of the subject. Whichever the perspective adopted is, the literary work, as it represents the man and his world, provides an effective means of understanding the subject’s conflicts and existential and identity crises evidenced in the discourses registered in the aesthetic object. This paper intends to analyze how duplicity-understood here as multiplied consciousness-takes place among characters in the narrative of Night, by the Brazilian author Erico Verissimo, in which the duplicated individual is the sign of a fragmented self. The aim is to examine which enunciative-discursive positions the protagonist assumes in the narrative to emphasize the duplicity of the subject from a polyphonic perspective; that is, by the biases of philosophy, psychology, and psychoanalysis and philosophy of language. As theoretical support for the examination of the double, we invite authors who navigate through philosophy, such as Clément Rosset; psychology and psychoanalysis, such as Otto Rank, Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, and C. F. Keppler; and, in the field of philosophy of language, Mikhail M. Bakhtin. Although the theorists adopt different views in re-examining the double, the approach is possible given that most admit certain correlations regarding the subject of otherness.
    
    VL  - 12
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Sections