Normalizing masochism: subversion and reification of hegemony in larry kramer’s the normal heart

In its broadest sense, hegemony is defined as a set of agreed ideologies practiced by prominent regimes and governments which influences people’s minds. One of the practices which can be observed in most societies is the exclusion and rejection of homosexuals of their fundamental rights as humans. As such, the issue will be magnified in this paper through a satirical play written by Larry Kramer, entitled The Normal Heart. Parallel with the dominant hegemony, the homosexual characters in the play are mistreated and isolated within their own society. To retaliate, these characters consider themselves as victims and intend to counter the situation by masochism. However, the attempt seems to backfire and reify the preexisting hegemony. As such, this paper explores The Normal Heart in light of Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony as well as Erich Fromm’s masochism. To further specify, the paper examines the homosexual characters – their victimization and their fight against the dominant ideologies and how it all leads to their estrangement within the society

Quest to freedom: reclaiming Individuality through sado-masochism in faggots by larry kramer

Individuality is the quality or character of a particular person that distinguishes them from others of the same kind. In other words, it is the mark which separates its existence from the rest of the group. According to Fromm, the process of individuality begins at infancy level when the child is separated from the mother. This then takes an emotional toll on the child as he suffers from loneliness and anxiety which stem from the prior separation. The child will henceforth acquire his individuality through the process of socialization which requires constant interaction with people in his life. For this paper, we have selected a novel, Faggots, authored by Larry Kramer, to be the main text for our research. This article argues that the characters in the text are conflicted with feelings of anxiety and loneliness as they embark on respective quest to eradicate the feeling of loneliness by looking for a potential life partner. However, these characters go through a series of promiscuous relationships by living an active sexual lifestyle on the ground that they are in search of the “right” one. Therefore, this paper will look into the sadistic and masochistic (sometimes both; otherwise known as sadomasochistic) tendency practiced by the characters in the novel in their quest to reclaim their lost individuality. This research draws in the concept of freedom, sadism, and masochism as proposed by Erich Fromm to further consolidate the findings

Re(de)construction of identity through social constructionism in selected novels by Podder, Beti, and James

Identity is an extremely complex and subjective theme to discuss – especially when it comes to setting a fixed definition. This article examines the construction of identity through the lens of social constructionism and draws in several working definitions from various sociologists to purport the core of this article. The sociological concept will be applied on three different texts: Escape from Harem by Tanushree Podder (2013); The Poor Christ of Bomba by Mongo Beti (1971); and The Book of Night Women by Marlon James (2009). Focusing only on the protagonist from each text, we attempt to carry out the analysis of this paper by looking at the flux of identity within them. We argue that identity is not a fixed and permanent state of a character; instead it is constructed by social, political, economic, and personal experience. All the three protagonists, Zeenat, Denis, and Lilith experience specific identity fluctuation in their lives. As such, we will be looking at the psychological growth and changes in each character and determine whether or not his/her sense of self is reconstructed or deconstructed at the end of their journey to self-discovery

Normalizing masochism: subversion and reification of hegemony in Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart

In its broadest sense, hegemony is defined as a set of agreed ideologies practiced by prominent regimes and governments which influences people’s minds. One of the practices which can be observed in most societies is the exclusion and rejection of homosexuals of their fundamental rights as humans. As such, the issue will be magnified in this paper through a satirical play written by Larry Kramer, entitled The Normal Heart. Parallel with the dominant hegemony, the homosexual characters in the play are mistreated and isolated within their own society. To retaliate, these characters consider themselves as victims and intend to counter the situation by masochism. However, the attempt seems to backfire and reify the preexisting hegemony. As such, this paper explores The Normal Heart in light of Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony as well as Erich Fromm’s masochism. To further specify, the paper examines the homosexual characters – their victimization and their fight against the dominant ideologies and how it all leads to their estrangement within the society

Revenge and retribution: reli(e)ving trauma in frozen by bryony lavery

Widely studied and defined, trauma has made its way into the streamline of various disciplines of study. Events such as war, natural disasters, violence, and verbal degradation are some factors which could traumatize a person. Although there is no definitive symptom for trauma, one usually suffers from social anxiety, low self-esteem, erratic behavior, or even aggressive tendency. In this article, we attempt to trace the psyche of the protagonist Ralph, in Bryony Lavery’s play Frozen. We want to identify the cause and effect of his traumatic experience during childhood when he was victimized sexually by his mother’s multiple lovers. In addition, the article will also shed light on his view of female figures in general as he grows into his adulthood. We argue that Ralph is stuck in his past and is constantly seeking for opportunities to create and relive the experience which has shaped him into becoming the “monster” he is now. Much to his dismay, we will see how his effort in exacting revenge on his mother is futile and that his thought of retribution to relieve himself winds up in death

Gothic and grotesque in james hogg’s the mysterious bride

The word Gothic refers back to the Dark ages in England. The Roman civilization was ruined by the Goths who were the barbarians at that time. As a result of the destruction of Roman Empire, the whole civilization underwent ignorance and darkness. Nowadays, the word Gothic has a variety of meaning and applications. Gothic novels portray exaggerated scenes, haunted castles, monsters and vampires. Scottish Gothic literature started after 1800. This paper will focus on one of the Scottish short stories by James Hogg, “The Mysterious Bride”. Some elements of Gothic and grotesque such as transgression of boundaries, suspense, uncanny and supernatural being are discussed within this short story in order to indicate Hogg’s main intention to use Gothic and grotesque elements in “The Mysterious Bride”. Among all the elemnts in Gothic and grotesque, this paper will mainly apply the presence of the opposites, uncanny, abnormal beings and supernatural events to James Hogg’s “The Mysterious Bride”

Multicenter phase II study of sequential radioembolization-sorafenib therapy for inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma

10.1371/journal.pone.0090909PLoS ONE93-POLN