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I play on it and live by it. Psychoanalysis is then experienced as a journey into the strangeness of the other and of oneself, toward an ethics of respect for the irreconcilable. How could one tolerate a foreigner if one did not know one was a stranger to oneself? (182)
The process of transference is an approach that enables us to reconcile with our own foreignness and such reconciliation can only be carried out by the existence of the other.
Psychoanalysis is an instrument that helps us to comprehend our inner contradiction, and
“it is with the help of that sole support that we can attempt to live with others” (Kristeva 170). Psychoanalysis traces how a person experiences the process of distancing oneself.
By means of negotiating with the strangeness of such a distanced self, one is able to extricate himself/herself from emotional entanglements when he/she confronts strangers.
3.4 Isabelle, the Other, and the Otherness
In New Anatomies, Isabelle’s case is a rather complicated one because of her distinctive life experience, personality, and identity. Theoretically speaking, Isabelle represents the European female intellect in her voyage to North Africa; however, throughout the play, it is hard for her to find her sense of belonging. It appears that Isabelle is the otherness in many perspectives. Firstly, though being born a European, Isabelle never intends to identify herself as a part of the group. Secondly, unlike the other women who devote themselves to family and try to behave well, Isabelle is not a
conventional woman who, for example, is obedient and longs for a marriage. Thirdly, on the intellectual standpoint, Isabelle fails to find the counterpart who is able to
communicate with her. Finally, even at home, Isabelle’s siblings do not accept her as a
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normal woman either. The entire suggested group of her kind is treating Isabelle like an alienated person, and such sense of otherness does not result from Isabelle’s physical appearance but arises from her conduct and behavior instead. Isabelle’s frustration can be detected in the beginning of the play when she questions Séverine “[w]hy do they hate me so?” (New Anatomies 6). As far as Isabelle is concerned, she simply wants to live a carefree life without social constraint but there are always obstacles that block her way.
Isabelle has made herself the foreigner and even the outcast of her kind for not fitting herself into the social norms.
Isabelle is considered to be an unbridled girl in the eyes of other people. Isabelle’s sister Natalie complains about their father Trofimovitch for treating Isabelle as “an exception” and leading her to an unusual and unwomanly female (New Anatomies 18).
The condemnation implies that there is a standardized model set for ideal women in the society but Isabelle fails to achieve it. What Natalie is trying to do is to draw a clear boundary that differentiates herself from Isabelle. In fact, Natalie still makes effort in trying to turn Isabelle into an ideal woman. In Natalie’s opinion, marriage can convert Isabelle to a docile lady but marriage seems to be incompatible with intellectual women.
“If only we could get her married, she’d forget all those books, but it’s the quotes that drive men away,” says Natalie to Jenny (New Anatomies 24-25). Natalie is an advocator of conventional value but Isabelle would rather be a pioneer who challenges the value.
The invisible borderline that separates Natalie and Isabelle is the fixed wall representing the ineradicable social value and doctrine imposed upon women. Both Isabelle and Natalie are frustrated about each other and they will never make confidants. In Natalie’s opinion, Isabelle can only remain an exception, and the other.
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Instead of compromising with the social norms, Isabelle prefers to embark on
voyages and to stick to her dream on pursuing knowledge. Though Isabelle is a European, she has determined to find a sense of belonging in a place other than Europe. North Africa is eventually a place that she prefers to settle in. It is possible that Isabelle’s father Trofimovitch has influenced her to some extent by introducing Arab culture such as
“Arabic poem” to her when young (New Anatomies 16). Unlike the other Europeans who ill-treat and despise the locals, Isabelle is willing to get accustomed to Arab culture and to indulge herself in it. Isabelle claims that the country “has possessed” her, and she desires
“to possess” it as well (New Anatomies 42). In order to put her words into practice, the first thing Isabelle does is to communicate with the locals in native language. Sharing the same language is perhaps the most instant approach for one to get a closer relationship with the other.
According to Kristeva, learning a foreign language is like having a new “instrument”
and “a new body”; it is a “resurrection,” a “new skin,” and “new sex” that makes one believe that he/she is leaving behind the past and heading for a brand new life (15). By means of temporarily discarding the mother tongue, one is symbolically drawing a clear cut between the past and the present.14 The separation with the past is a symbolic ritual because our peculiar sound always betrays us and reminds us that we are and will always be the foreigners. Isabelle’s preference for the native language shows her desire of turning away from the past and her eagerness to fit into the Arab way of life. To the
14 Kristeva states that mother tongue, which is “the language of the past,” actually “withers without ever leaving” an individual (Kristeva 15). Mother tongue cannot be discarded. In a seminar, which entitled
“Foreigner Question: Coming from Abroad/ from the Foreigner,” Jacques Derrida also associates mother tongue with the idea of “second skin” (89) one wears; according to Derrida, language is the “ultimate
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Europeans, Isabelle is just like a betrayer to her own race and culture. Speaking the native language to the locals is a serious matter because it may cause suspicion in the
community and “ruin” Antoine’s chance of promotion (New Anatomies 21). In addition to Isabelle’s preference of language use, the scene that Isabelle hums “Arabic
modulations” spontaneously also shows Isabelle’s sincere attitude toward the foreign culture (New Anatomies 5). Finally, in religious preference, Isabelle becomes the faithful believer of Islam and claims that “[t]here is no god but Allah, Allah is the only God and Muhammed is his prophet” (New Anatomies 7-8). Being in North Africa, Isabelle
embraces the new culture and has adapted herself to it. Isabelle’s behaviours have shown that she is different from the rest of the Europeans. The distinguishing characteristic of Isabelle is what makes her incompatible with the Europeans.