The “fluid mask” of Antonin Artaud: effects of corporeal hyperreflexivity on schizophrenic subjects

Giovanni Pennisi

Abstract


The aim of this paper is to frame schizophrenia as a paradigm for the identification of the bodily roots of self. In order to do that, we will deepen the knowledge of a central figure of twentieth-century theatre: the schizophrenic playwright, actor and poet Antonin Artaud. However, we will not focus on his notorious conceptualization of theatre, but rather on the interpretation that an influential psychiatrist – namely, Louis Sass – gave to some excerpts of his early writings, such as The Umbilicus of Limbo, The Nerve Meter and Fragments of a Journal in Hell, which all date back to 1925. The reason why such collections of poems and disorganized thoughts are particularly interesting is that they shed light on some typical traits of schizophrenia, such as disembodiment, self-fragmentation and a tendency towards the “explication of the implicit”, or hyperreflexivity. The writings of Artaud will serve us as a key to understanding the schizophrenic corporeity, since his words reflect the tormented relationship that all the patients have with their own body. We will address the topic of the problematic subject-body relationship starting with one of the most peculiar features of schizophrenic alienation: the distorted, inharmonious, mask-like perception of one’s own and others’ face.

Keywords


Fluid Mask; Corporeal hyperreflexivity; Shizofrenia

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.6092/2282-1619/2019.7.2238

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