“Repetition compulsion” (Potamianou 945) is utilized to alleviate the tensions produced by trauma. However, the process results in two paradoxes that make it difficult for the mind to achieve alleviation from trauma (Potamianou 946). The first paradox is the “presence of what is absent” (Potamianou 947), which develops when traumatic experiences are kept outside David’s memory while his psychic apparatus is exposed to compulsive repetitions of Dulcie (Potamianou 947). She is the unspeakable figure of David’s story because she is a woman who was shamefully violated (Baiada 38). The after-effects of this trauma leave the mind paralyzed, making it deficient in its ability to elaborate on the subject (Potamianou 946). Thus, David refuses to make
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It is also known as “memory trace” (Potamianou 955) or traces of memory. “Amnemonic traces” (Potamianou 963) refer to the gaps, ruptures, fading images or representations, and “compulsive repetitions” (Potamianou 963), which are characteristic of David’s cognitive network. The essence of “amnemonic traces” (Potamianou 963) are their highly disorganized quality (Potamianou 955). They are incomplete snippets of the traumatic event. Dulcie remains as traces of memory within David’s Story because she is literally left as a trace of the past, with “sorry clutch of hints and innuendoes” that “do not lead to anything” (Wicomb 151). Similarly, Robolin describes Dulcie as a “loose memory” (301) that contributes to the multi-layered structure of the novel. Dulcie is a “protean subject that slithers hither and thither, out of reach, repeating, replacing, and transforming itself” (Wicomb 35). In this sense, Dulcie is a loose historical fragment that resides in traumatic shame that shatters David’s mental life, resulting in a messy recollection of memory. For example, Dulcie unleashes a world where the familiar things “buckle and sway” (Wicomb 177). Through the repetitive procedure, David cannot help but hold onto unpleasant amnemonic traces of Dulcie, with the unconscious choice to not separate or lose that piece of memory (Potamianou 947). As a result, we can see David …show more content…
She becomes an allusive character dominated by an inaccessible truth. However, the obscuring of Dulcie indicates that something that was once present is now removed. While he admits that she is “a story that cannot be told” (Wicomb 151), his inability to discuss Dulcie acts as an evidence for his involvement in the “unacknowledged and silent torture of Dulcie, probably by fellow comrades” (Dass 73). The novel demonstrates how the psychic regime removes historical injustice from social memory yet “continually reveals itself by making visible the gaps and erasures inherent in the selection” (Graham 138). To put it differently, the detectable absences represents David’s deployment of “repetition compulsion” (Potamianou 945), which is conditioned by avoidance processes. However, instead of maintaining the silence of Dulcie, these omissions become void spaces that provide room for the reveal of what he is trying to disguise (Graham 138). Dulcie is the presence of the absent, therefore the more David conceals, he is confronted with a greater haunting from
It is also known as “memory trace” (Potamianou 955) or traces of memory. “Amnemonic traces” (Potamianou 963) refer to the gaps, ruptures, fading images or representations, and “compulsive repetitions” (Potamianou 963), which are characteristic of David’s cognitive network. The essence of “amnemonic traces” (Potamianou 963) are their highly disorganized quality (Potamianou 955). They are incomplete snippets of the traumatic event. Dulcie remains as traces of memory within David’s Story because she is literally left as a trace of the past, with “sorry clutch of hints and innuendoes” that “do not lead to anything” (Wicomb 151). Similarly, Robolin describes Dulcie as a “loose memory” (301) that contributes to the multi-layered structure of the novel. Dulcie is a “protean subject that slithers hither and thither, out of reach, repeating, replacing, and transforming itself” (Wicomb 35). In this sense, Dulcie is a loose historical fragment that resides in traumatic shame that shatters David’s mental life, resulting in a messy recollection of memory. For example, Dulcie unleashes a world where the familiar things “buckle and sway” (Wicomb 177). Through the repetitive procedure, David cannot help but hold onto unpleasant amnemonic traces of Dulcie, with the unconscious choice to not separate or lose that piece of memory (Potamianou 947). As a result, we can see David …show more content…
She becomes an allusive character dominated by an inaccessible truth. However, the obscuring of Dulcie indicates that something that was once present is now removed. While he admits that she is “a story that cannot be told” (Wicomb 151), his inability to discuss Dulcie acts as an evidence for his involvement in the “unacknowledged and silent torture of Dulcie, probably by fellow comrades” (Dass 73). The novel demonstrates how the psychic regime removes historical injustice from social memory yet “continually reveals itself by making visible the gaps and erasures inherent in the selection” (Graham 138). To put it differently, the detectable absences represents David’s deployment of “repetition compulsion” (Potamianou 945), which is conditioned by avoidance processes. However, instead of maintaining the silence of Dulcie, these omissions become void spaces that provide room for the reveal of what he is trying to disguise (Graham 138). Dulcie is the presence of the absent, therefore the more David conceals, he is confronted with a greater haunting from