[In]toxic[ating] Bodies: Spirits and Spectral Biopolitics in The House of the Seven Gables
In this article I apply the theme of obsession, and its psychological aspects in particular, to Hawthorne’s preoccupation with drink and intoxication. I aim to unpack the often-messy entanglements between alcohol, toxicity, and subjectivity in Hawthorne’s fiction. Using The House of the Seven Gables...
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European Association for American Studies
2023-09-01
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/20558 |
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| author | Emelia Abbé Robertson |
| author_facet | Emelia Abbé Robertson |
| author_sort | Emelia Abbé Robertson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this article I apply the theme of obsession, and its psychological aspects in particular, to Hawthorne’s preoccupation with drink and intoxication. I aim to unpack the often-messy entanglements between alcohol, toxicity, and subjectivity in Hawthorne’s fiction. Using The House of the Seven Gables as a case study, I argue that Hawthorne’s link between intoxication and toxic materials is less a means of critiquing the political and institutional systems at work in his moment, than a way to interrogate a particular narrative of American history. Hawthorne’s depictions of toxic and intoxicating bodies are bound up in the ongoing discourse of “civilizing” processes unfolding in a relatively new nation—processes that determine which lives are productive, valuable, and essential, and which are “extraneous,” as Colin Dayan puts it. From Matthew Maule’s execution to Clifford Pyncheon’s incarceration, Hawthorne deploys the language of intoxication and toxicity to suggest that persons or bodies who do not neatly fit into America’s sense of teleological progress are viewed as infectious, poisonous, noxious, and otherwise threatening. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0d30ef82a4924806b6f94c41209d0e71 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-0d30ef82a4924806b6f94c41209d0e712025-01-06T09:08:09ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362023-09-0118310.4000/ejas.20558[In]toxic[ating] Bodies: Spirits and Spectral Biopolitics in The House of the Seven GablesEmelia Abbé RobertsonIn this article I apply the theme of obsession, and its psychological aspects in particular, to Hawthorne’s preoccupation with drink and intoxication. I aim to unpack the often-messy entanglements between alcohol, toxicity, and subjectivity in Hawthorne’s fiction. Using The House of the Seven Gables as a case study, I argue that Hawthorne’s link between intoxication and toxic materials is less a means of critiquing the political and institutional systems at work in his moment, than a way to interrogate a particular narrative of American history. Hawthorne’s depictions of toxic and intoxicating bodies are bound up in the ongoing discourse of “civilizing” processes unfolding in a relatively new nation—processes that determine which lives are productive, valuable, and essential, and which are “extraneous,” as Colin Dayan puts it. From Matthew Maule’s execution to Clifford Pyncheon’s incarceration, Hawthorne deploys the language of intoxication and toxicity to suggest that persons or bodies who do not neatly fit into America’s sense of teleological progress are viewed as infectious, poisonous, noxious, and otherwise threatening.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/20558Nathaniel HawthornespiritsintoxicationtoxicityThe House of the Seven Gables |
| spellingShingle | Emelia Abbé Robertson [In]toxic[ating] Bodies: Spirits and Spectral Biopolitics in The House of the Seven Gables European Journal of American Studies Nathaniel Hawthorne spirits intoxication toxicity The House of the Seven Gables |
| title | [In]toxic[ating] Bodies: Spirits and Spectral Biopolitics in The House of the Seven Gables |
| title_full | [In]toxic[ating] Bodies: Spirits and Spectral Biopolitics in The House of the Seven Gables |
| title_fullStr | [In]toxic[ating] Bodies: Spirits and Spectral Biopolitics in The House of the Seven Gables |
| title_full_unstemmed | [In]toxic[ating] Bodies: Spirits and Spectral Biopolitics in The House of the Seven Gables |
| title_short | [In]toxic[ating] Bodies: Spirits and Spectral Biopolitics in The House of the Seven Gables |
| title_sort | in toxic ating bodies spirits and spectral biopolitics in the house of the seven gables |
| topic | Nathaniel Hawthorne spirits intoxication toxicity The House of the Seven Gables |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/20558 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT emeliaabberobertson intoxicatingbodiesspiritsandspectralbiopoliticsinthehouseofthesevengables |