ANNE ENRIGHT'IN TOPLANTI ROMANINDA KAYBA ÖZGÜ ACI KAVRAMI

Abstract

Anne Enright’s The Gathering (2007) is based on the painful testimony of the protagonist-narrator Veronica Hegarty, who tries to cope with the traumatic childhood memories of her brother’s being a victim of abuse and his tragic suicide. Veronica’s fragmented narrative reflects a de-ontologised subjectivity which is disrupted by the affect of grief. By referring to Jean-Luc Nancy’s and Eugenie Brinkema’s theoretical discussions on writing, subjectivity and grief, this article argues that Veronica’s writing process is non-therapeutic and her mourning process is undialectical because her intense biological experience of grief fails linguistic signification and reveals that writing cannot access the truth of the body. The affect of grief represented as biological experiences in Veronica’s mourning process is closely connected to the peculiar painfulness of loss Freud underlines, but leaves unexplained, in his discussion of mourning and melancholia. Freud writes about a physical pain rather than a mental pain that is experienced at the loss of a loved object. In the novel, the portrayal of the biological aspect of loss with an emphasis on the concept of peculiar painfulness also contributes to the understanding of the contemporary approach to loss with its productive attributes. The depiction of Veronica’s peculiar pain aims to urge Irish society to follow a course of action on the problem of child abuse with political awareness and ethical responsibilities.