FortDa!?c-faculty.chuo-u.ac.jp/~oniki/Resources/Week8.pptx.pdf · On-dreams-and-fantasy •...

Fort-‐Da!?

Week 8

Starling’s reply (66)

•  “Have you ever run across it before, Starling? You've read the literature since I have.”

•  A new symbol. •  Who can understand it best? •  The mind of a serial killer…


•  “Have you ever run across it before, Starling? You've read the literature since I have.”

•  A new symbol. •  How can it be understood?


•  A new symbol. •  How can it be understood? •  When we encounter new symbols we need the help of those who can interpret them.

•  The help of those who have experienPal knowledge of such symbols.


•  Who has the experienPal knowledge of a serial killer?



•  Lecter



•  Lecter •  Not only was he a serial killer, he also treated people who may have had similar criminal traits.

Symbolic thought

•  Not only serial killers, but all humans think in terms of symbols.

•  Why is that necessary? •  Let’s think about this for the second half of the semester.

Symbolic thought

•  Not only serial killers, but all humans think in terms of symbols.

•  Why is that necessary? •  Symbols oSen represent what we want, that is, our desires.

Symbolic thought

•  Symbols oSen represent what we want, that is, our desires.

•  These desires are hardly immediate. They are built up, gradually we develop them as children, teenagers and then growing adults.

Systems of thought

•  Whether people are good or bad ciPzens… •  Whether they have good or bad taste… •  …everyone’s desires are based on a system.

System as unconscious

•  This system of desire is largely “unconscious.” •  We are not aware of it.

Freud’s new idea

•  This system of desire is largely “unconscious.” •  We are not aware of it, but we are processing （処理）　are desires.

Freud’s new idea

•  This system of desire is largely “unconscious.” •  We are not aware of it, but we are processing （処理）　are desires.

•  One of the ways we process our desires is through symbols.

Freud’s new idea

•  One of the ways we process our desires is through symbols.

•  We do this in the form of… – Dreams – Fantasies

On dreams and fantasy

•  Dreams and fantasies are oSen considered to be flights of fancy. （くだらない空想や夢想）

•  But if they are so unimportant, why are we interested in them?

•  There is not a single culture or country where desires are not expressed in the form of dreams and stories.


•  There is not a single culture or country where desires are not expressed in the form of dreams and stories.

•  OSen, in “primiPve” cultures, dreams and stories are understood in terms of a system.


•  OSen, in “primiPve” Pmes, dreams and stories were understood as part of a system of the cosmos.


•  OSen, in “primiPve” Pmes, dreams and stories were understood as part of a system of the cosmos.

•  Example: •  古事記では、神々の世界があり、その指令（あるいは意志）によって地上の国は作られ…

Modernity and science

•  This system was discarded as “unscienPfic.” •  We can understand nature in terms of science. •  How its forces work.

Human sciences?

•  But as we became modern and believed in the scienPfic method of understanding nature, did we stop dreaming, did we stop fantasizing?

Human sciences?

•  In the midst of science, did we stop dreaming, did we stop fantasizing?

•  If anything, we have expanded upon a need to dream, to fantasize.

•  Think about how you spend your Pme…

Human sciences?

•  Think about how you spend your Pme… – Reading – Watching television and commercials – Playing video games – Going to the movies – Listening to songs or singing them

Human sciences?

•  Think about how you spend your Pme… – Reading – Watching television and commercials – Playing video games – Going to the movies – Listening to songs or singing them

•  We cannot deny that we are “invested” in dreaming and fantasizing.

Modern World

•  Instead of parPcipaPng in a collecPve myth (as in, 古事記）, our fantasies are largely experienced as private.

Modern World

•  Our fantasies are largely experienced as private.

•  Freud tried to understand what such private fantasies meant because they seemed related to our behavior in the real world.

•  They also seemed related to one’s sickness.

Freud on “symbols”

•  He observed how a child played a game of his own, called “Fort-‐Da.”

Game of Desire

•  “Fort” •  The child would toss something away and u_er, “o-‐o-‐o”. He was trying to imitate the sound “fort” (which means “gone” in German).

Game of Desire

•  “Da” •  Then he would pull the object back where he could see it and exclaim, “da!” (meaning, “there it is!”)

Game of Desire

•  Freud called this child’s game, “Fort-‐Da” •  「いない」　ー＞「そこにいる」

Game of Desire

•  “Fort-‐Da.” •  「いない」　ー＞「そこにいる」 •  Freud interpreted this game as a “reenactment” of his mother disappearing (leaving the room or the house, in other words).

Game of Desire


•  Why would he do this when it causes fear though?

Game of Desire


•  The infant fears he will be leS by his mother, the most precious being in his life.

Game of Desire

•  The infant fears he will be leS by his mother, the most precious being in his life.

•  She is the most precious being because the child survives thanks to her care.

Game of Desire

•  So why does he play this game, when the original experience is one of “fear”?

Games and Reality

•  Hint: Games are different from reality.

Games and Reality

•  Originally (with his mother), the child plays a passive role.

•  In this game, however, he gets to be in control.

Games

•  In this game, however, he gets to be in control.

•  “Fort-‐Da.” •  “Gone.” → “There it is.” •  He plays the acPve role. •  Like a magician, he makes the object disappear (“gone”) and then makes it reappear (“there!”).

Games and Control

•  He plays the acPve role. •  Like a magician, he makes the object disappear (“gone”) and then makes it reappear (“there!”).

•  He is in control (as opposed to the original situaPon of his mother’s absence).

Games and Control

•  The child wants to “play” at being in control because he knows he is not in control (that is, his mother can leave at certain Pmes and there is nothing he can do about it).

•  In reality, he is realizing he cannot control his mother (and the rest of the world around him).

Games and Control

•  In reality, he is realizing he cannot control his mother (and the rest of the world around him).

•  Realizing this condiPon of life, that you are not in control of the things around you, is called the “reality principle.”

Games and Control

•  Realizing this condiPon of life, that you are not in control of the things around you, is called the “reality principle.”

•  People who suffer from a mental illness are oSen unable to accept this principle.

Mental Illness -‐ Paranoia

•  Paranoiac tendencies can be observed in schizophrenics.

•  The paPent believes that his world is completely controlled by another force.

Mental Illness -‐ Paranoia

•  Paranoiac tendencies can be observed in schizophrenics.

•  The paPent believes that his world is completely controlled by another force.

•  For the paranoiac, “fort-‐da” is not a game. It is real.

Mental Illness in Silence…

•  For the paranoiac, “fort-‐da” is not a game. It is real. And this is how Senator MarPn tries to address Buffalo Bill, as if he were paranoid.

Mental Illness in Silence…(Ch. 17)

•  For the paranoiac, “fort-‐da” is not a game. It is real. And this is how Senator MarPn tries to address Buffalo Bill, as if he were paranoid.

•  She plays the game of “fort da” by offering to let him have control over his world.

Senator MarPn on t.v. (60-‐61)

•  She walked closer to the camera, causing an unscheduled refocus, and spoke as she never would have spoken to a terrorist [as if she is offering him control].


•  “You have the power to let my daughter go unharmed. Her name is Catherine. She's very gentle and understanding. Please let my daughter go, please release her unharmed. You have control of this situaPon. You have the power. You are in charge.”


•  “I know you can feel love and compassion. You can protect her against anything that might want to harm her.”

•  As if Buffalo Bill has emoPonal control as well.


•  “You now have a wonderful chance to show the whole world that you are capable of great kindness, that you are big enough to treat others be_er than the world has treated you.”

•  As in, the world (as in, reality) has not treated you well, but you are sPll in control.

More on control (60-‐61)

•  “I promise you in front of this enPre country, you'll have my unsPnPng aid whenever you need it. I'm well equipped to help you. I am a United States Senator. I serve on the Armed Services Commi_ee.”

•  As in, I am very powerful, but you are even more powerful.


•  “If you have enemies, I will fight them. If anyone interferes with you, I can stop them. You can call me at any Pme, day or night. Catherine is my daughter's name”

•  As in, I am on your side and I will fight against anyone who tries to control you.


•  As in, I am on your side and I will fight against anyone who tries to control you.

•  Is not Senator MarPn, playing a “mother-‐like” role in this game of “fort-‐da”?

•  If so, this is a strange game of “fort-‐da.”


•  If so, this is a strange game of “fort-‐da.” •  The child, instead of being leS alone to play with his objects, is joined by a “subsPtute” mother.


•  If so, this is a strange game of “fort-‐da.” •  The child, instead of being leS alone to play with his objects, is joined by a “subsPtute” mother, a mother who is trying to save her daughter’s life.

Extreme mental illness

•  Extreme mental illness, instead of being merely “crazy”, is oSen based on a reversal of logic.

•  In a game, you have distance. •  You tell yourself, “This is only a game.”

Extreme mental illness

•  But the paranoiac, has no distance towards this game.

•  Instead, he has a strange distance towards reality.

Not a game, but real

•  The senator is assuming that Buffalo Bill’s psyche revolves around a world where “fort-‐da” is not a game, but real.

•  I am not pretending this “fort-‐da.” •  For me, “fort-‐da” is real.


•  For him, “fort-‐da” is not a game, but real. •  The logic is reversed then.


•  For him, “fort-‐da” is not a game, but real. •  The logic is reversed then. •  Humans become objects/symbols.


•  For him, “fort-‐da” is not a game, but real. •  The logic is reversed then. •  Humans become objects/symbols. •  They are depersonalized.

Mapp and Starling (61)

•  Mapp: Why did she keep saying 'Catherine,' why the name all the Pme?"

•  Starling: She's trying to make Buffalo Bill see Catherine as a person. They're thinking he'll have to depersonalize her, he'll have to see her as an object before he can tear her up.

Mapp and Starling (61)

•  Starling: Serial murderers talk about that in prison interviews, some of them. They say it's like working on a doll.

•  “Working on a doll”, as in, only playing fort-‐da.

•  As if, the vicPms are mere symbols (when in reality they are real people with real lives).

Growing up and “fort-‐da”

•  Let’s go back to Freud’s concept.

How is it?

•  How is it that we manage to balance ourselves between a) playing games like “fort-‐da” and b) the reality of not being in control (of the

world around us)?

For Freud…

•  The quesPon is not how people are stable, but how they manage not to be unstable.

Game of Desire↔ Reality

•  The child wants to “play” at being in control because he is learning something about reality.

•  The reality is that he is not in control of the most important thing in his world, namely, his mother.


•  The reality is that he is not in control of the most important thing in his world, namely, his mother.

•  He turns the objects around him into “symbols” that he can control.



•  Insofar as this is true, his world gradually becomes symbolic.

•  He may learn that he is not in control of reality (i.e., his mother), but instead he is creaPng his world of symbols.



•  Insofar as this is true, his world gradually becomes symbolic.

•  He may learn that he is not in control of reality (i.e., his mother), but instead…


•  He is creaPng his world, one that is not real, but symbolic.

•  He wants to be in control of this world because reality cannot be controlled.

Note!

•  This world of symbols is Ped to the original experience of reality (i.e., separaPon from mother).

Note!

•  This world of symbols is Ped to the original experience of reality (i.e., separaPon from mother).

•  While the fear of his mother may be real, the possibility of her really leaving him is unlikely.

•  The reality is that she is sPll there. •  What is real is the fear that she could be gone (fort).

Note!

•  If she wasn’t there (da) in the first place, he would be very confused.

•  Her being there in the first place provides the roots of his reality.

Note!


•  Without the security of these roots, he would not know that “fort-‐da” is just a game.

Child’s confidence in the real

•  The important thing is that he knows it is a game and the fact that his mother not leaving him is real.

•  What is real is the fear that her mother beig gone could happen.

On terror

•  The reality is that we fear “terrible” things that could happen far more than they actually do.

•  How do we deal with this fear?

On terror

•  How do we deal with this fear?

Discussion

On terror

•  How do we deal with this fear? •  We ignore it. •  But isn’t this also a game of simply “fort”? •  That is, are we not simply pretending that “all is well,” parPcularly when there is a strong possibility that all is not all well.

On terror

•  How do we deal with this fear? •  We can, like “fort-‐da”, try to act as if we are in control of the things that we fear.

On terror

•  The important thing about control is not only – Control of objects – But also control of one’s emoPons

Once again, “fort-‐da”

•  Child’s antude towards mother: So you’re leaving? Well, I never wanted you. I can survive on my own.



•  By telling this kind of “emoPonal story (game)” to himself, the child grows up into reality.



•  By telling this kind of “emoPonal story (game)” to himself, the child grows up into reality.

•  If this emoPon is extreme, however, it can take on the form of revenge.



•  Child: How could you abandon me! I will not forgive you and anyone like you for doing that.



•  Child: How could you abandon me! I will not forgive you and anyone like you for doing that.

•  In such cases, the game may no longer be a game.

•  The terror of Buffalo Bill’s “game” is both… •  how the women die anonymously (no one can idenPfy them at first)

•  And how a monster like Buffalo Bill could exist. What kind of person would do this in real life as if it were a “game”?

Starling’s thoughts

•  When the news came, it was no help. The story from Memphis was a rehash of the seven o'clock news. Senator MarPn's daughter was missing. Her blouse had been found slit up the back in the style of Buffalo Bill. No witnesses. The vicPm found in West Virginia remained unidenPfied.

Starling’s thoughts

•  The vicPm found in West Virginia remained unidenPfied.

•  The vicPm was subjected to a game of “fort-‐da” and we don’t even know who she is.

Game ≈ Reality?

•  We don’t know why Buffalo Bill does this, but we are genng an idea that he is playing some horrible version of “fort-‐da”, a game of control.

•  Why couldn’t he grow up into a normal adult?

Game ≈ Reality?

•  We don’t know why Buffalo Bill does this, but we are genng an idea that he is playing some horrible version of “fort-‐da”, a game of control.

•  Why can’t he grow up and accept the reality principle (that is, accept that he is in a world where he is not in control)?

Game ≈ Reality?

•  Why can’t he grow up and accept the reality principle (that is, accept that he is in a world where he is not in control)?

•  Perhaps he lacked a mother in the first place. •  One that would make him feel safe enough to play a game of “fort-‐da” alone as a child.

Game ≈ Reality?

•  One that would make him feel safe enough to play a game of “fort-‐da” alone as a child.

•  To play games you have to feel safe. •  A child explores out of the assumpPon that he has a place to return to safely.

Remember!

•  If the mother wasn’t there (da) in the first place, the child would lost.


Remember!



•  Perhaps Buffalo Bill lacks these roots.

Remember!



•  Perhaps Buffalo Bill lacks these roots. •  We don’t know why Buffalo Bill does this, but we are genng an idea that he is playing some kind of version of “fort-‐da”, a game of control.

The sense of solid self

•  Gradually, we see who has the security of roots.

Starling’s roots

•  West Virginia. Among Clarice Starling's memories of the Po_er Funeral Home was something hard and valuable. Something durable, shining apart from the dark revelaPons. Something to keep.

Starling’s roots

•  She deliberately recalled it now and found that she could squeeze it like a talisman [as in, symbol].

Starling’s roots

•  In the Po_er Funeral Home, standing at the sink, she had found strength from a source that surprised and pleased her-‐-‐-‐ the memory of her mother.

Starling’s roots

•  Starling was a seasoned survivor on hand-‐me-‐down grace from her late father through her brothers; she was surprised and moved by this bounty she had found.

Starling’s roots

•  Starling was a seasoned survivor on hand-‐me-‐down grace from her late father through her brothers…

•  Not games, but grace. •  It is through grace that we can find our sense of self.

Starling’s roots

•  …she was surprised and moved by this bounty she had found.

•  This treasure inside me, it is hard and lasPng. •  Out of her poverty, Starling discovers what is “real” to her.

•  Both accepPng one’s roots, and being strengthened by it.

Starling’s roots

•  Both accepPng one’s roots, and being strengthened by it.

•  Is this not how one begins to feel in control of one’s world?

From here on…

•  We will see how events will run out of control…

•  I want you to conPnue reading in terms of how the world around Starling starts to go out of control.

Topic quesPon

•  Who interrupts this control? Only Buffalo Bill? •  Keep this quesPon in mind when reading the 2nd half of this novel.

Assignment

•  訳文：第２２章〜３０章 •  注目：２２章、（特に）２５章 •  今週のパワーポイントをもう一度復習。 •  英文：end of Ch. 21 “I’m not a turnkey…” to the end.

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