Origin and Transmission in Thomas Hardy’s Novels: Making Historical “the Unhistorical Kernel of the Real”
In Hardy’s novels, tragedy stems from a rupture in generational continuity, preventing the transmission of patrimony. Tess exemplifies this breach: separated from her aristocratic ancestors by a “blank page in family chronology” (Jan B. Gordon), she is sent to “claim kin” with Alec d’Urberville. Sim...
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| Vydáno v: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom, |
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| Hlavní autor: | |
| Médium: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Jazyk: | Anglais |
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FATHOM
2026
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| On-line přístup: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Shrnutí: | In Hardy’s novels, tragedy stems from a rupture in generational continuity, preventing the transmission of patrimony. Tess exemplifies this breach: separated from her aristocratic ancestors by a “blank page in family chronology” (Jan B. Gordon), she is sent to “claim kin” with Alec d’Urberville. Similarly, in The Mayor of Casterbridge, Henchard’s tragedy begins with his inability to restore “the tenderest human tie” with Elizabeth-Jane, whom he wrongly believes to be his daughter. In both cases, paternity fails; the “Name of the Father” is inoperative, making symbolic transmission impossible — patrimony being understood beyond material property. Hardy’s tragic novels dramatize this impossibility of symbolic transmission — paradoxically producing his own literary heritage. For Hardy’s fascination with the origin, in particular with the Dorset dialect, the originary language he had to renounce when he became an established writer in Standard English, is the very source from which his poetics spring. Thus the origin, the unsymbolizable, “unhistorical kernel of the Real” (Slavoj Žižek) is made historical. |
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