REPRESENTATIONS OF TRAUMA, TRANSFERENCE, SUBALTERN DISCOURSE AND STOCKHOLM SYNDROME IN SYLVIA PLATH’S “DADDY”

Abstract

Sylvia Plath’s controversial poem “Daddy” has usually been interpreted in biographical terms as an allegory of the poet’s troubled relationship with her father and her husband: the numerous references in it to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust are generally understood to be metaphors for the dominant and oppressive characters of these male figures. Thus, the aim of this study is to show other aspects such as trauma, transference, and subaltern discourse in the poem and to open the codes within the language. The methodology of this article is conducted through a semiotic reading. This essay reverses the metaphor, focusing on the speaker’s constantly shifting perspectives. And it argues, against the tradition, that the biographical context is of secondary importance: the focus of the poem, which was written in the context of the trial and execution of Adolf Eichmann, is on the speaker’s problematic identification and engagement with the trauma of the Jews. The analysis illustrates that it can therefore be understood as a unique and complex critique of Nazi ideology and social indoctrination, as they are experienced physically, linguistically, and psychologically.