How Identity Is Mapped Onto Individuals Through The Use Of Language.
This essay will explore the issue of how identity is mapped onto individuals through the use of language. The models established by Lacanian literary criticism will provide part of the theoretical basis of the essay. However, this essay also recognizes criticism that has been made of Lacanian theory with respect to its so-called real-world relevance by critics operating from a New Historicist perspective. Therefore, elements of this New Historicist approach will be used to reinforce Lancanian theory of identity. This essay will argue, through a reading of the novels "Black Baby" and "The Woman" Warrior, that an understanding of identity, gender and race in the modern context requires a recognition of both psychological and ideological forces, and how they unite in the (mis)shaping of identity. 6 pgs, bibliography lists 6 sources.
