The “Poem of the Cid” as a masochistic fantasy: A psychoanalytic reading [thesis] PDF
Preview The “Poem of the Cid” as a masochistic fantasy: A psychoanalytic reading [thesis]
INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microlilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9411084 The “Poem of the Cid” as a masochistic fantasy: A psychoanalytic reading Collas, Ion, Ph.D. New York University, 1993 Copyright ©1993 by Collas, Ion. All rights reserved. U M I 300 N. ZeebRd. Ann Aibor. MI 48106 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Graduate School of Arts and Science THE POEM OF THE CID AS A MASOCHISTIC FANTASY A PSYCHOANALYTIC READING by Ion Collas September 1993 A dissertation in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at New York University Approved: Salvador Martinez Advisor Copyright ©1993 by Ion Collas All Rights Reserved To my wife Merope and my daughters Sophia and Ariana Acknowledgements I express my deepest gratitude to Professor Salvador Martinez who made this dissertation possible by generously offering me his support and his time and making freely available to me his medieval expertise. Warm thanks also to Professors John A. Coleman, Kenneth Krabbenhoft and Antonio Regalado for their perceptive reading of the text and their insightful suggestions. Abstract The point being made is that the hero of the Poema de Mio Cid displays an attitude that can properly be characterized as masochistic when he humbly accepts the king's punishment instead of expressing justified anger. That his attitude is masochistic becomes confirmed by his triumphant rehabilitation since masochists are known to submit to pain and suffering in the expectation of great rewards. The Cid's humiliating banishment and subsequent triumph represent the two poles of a typical masochistic fantasy. Just as masochism in real life is the result of an identification with a punishing parent, so too the poetic Cid's masochism is the consequence of an identification with the unjust king. The existence of the identification is symbolically revealed in a key passage of the text. The identification's capital importance resides in the fact that the Cid, by identifying with the king, identifies with Spanish Christendom which the king incarnates. This is - v - the main reason why whatever he conquers over the Moors is sensed by the reader as being conquered by Christian Spain. It is suggested that this commentary fills a gap in Cidian scholarship by providing an explanation of why the Poema has come to be considered the national epic of Spain. The need for such an explanation is made evident by the observation that the hero's stated motivation in subjugating the Moors is not, as generally believed, to promote the Reconquista; it is to acquire wealth by pillage, tribute and booty. The few explicit Spanish-Christian elements of the text (e.g. loyalty to king, appointment of a bishop) on which Pidal and others rely in order to present the Poema as a national epic are far outweighed by the wealth motivation which Pidal ignores although it applies to all the hero's conquests, including Valencia, his private "heredad." Only the hero's identification with the king, superseding the wealth motivation and giving it a national colouring, can account for the patriotic impact of the Poema and its undisputed acceptance as Spain's national epic. A portrait of the historical Cid puts the poetic Cid's masochistic attitude in relief by contrast.
The list of books you might like
