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The Alienated Body in John Williams’ Novel Stoner

Received: 21 June 2022     Accepted: 18 July 2022     Published: 28 July 2022
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Abstract

The concept of alienation is a multifaceted issue which has been used to describe the state of human estrangement from society, from others and even from one’s own nature. David Patterson goes further when he states that alienation becomes the norm, more than that it becomes the core of human existence. The present paper delineates bodily alienation in a host of settings, in aging, in sickness, and in death, approaching the issue from a phenomenological and philosophical point of view. At first, the phenomenon of bodily alienation depicts the physical change in the experience of aging and its effects on the protagonist. It puts into focus the alien nature of growing old, representing the body in aging as a tool and an obstacle, as it reflects upon the individual relation with others highlighting the body as a being-for others. Then, the study swirls around the changes that accompany being ill, differentiating between the lived body and body as object. As it also revives around the objectification of the body in illness through the examination stage, the loss of mastery over the body, its dysfunction and otherness. Finally, the paper depends on Sartre’s work to explore the alienated body in death, examining Stoner’s alienation during his dying hours.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 10, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.13
Page(s) 210-214
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Alienation, Body, Age, Illness, Death, Object

References
[1] Meht, Uijay & Sonika Sharma. (2013) “Alienation in American Literature with Reference to Saul Bellow’s ‘The Victim.’” International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts, and Literature. Vol. 1. Indora: Arni University.
[2] Williams, John. (2003). Stoner. New York: Review Books.
[3] Beauvoir, Simone. (1996) The Coming of Age. Trans. Patrick O’Brain. New York; W. Norton& Company.
[4] Woodward, Kathleen. (1991). Aging and its Discontents Freud and Other Fictions. Bloomington: Indian University Press.
[5] Gadow, Sally. (1992). “Recovering the Body in Aging.” Aging and Ethics. Ed. Nancy S. Jecker. New Jersy: Humana Press.
[6] Cole, Thomas R. and Sally Gadow. (1986). What does it Mean to Grow Old? Reflections from the Humanities. Durham: Duke University Press.
[7] Morris, Katherine. (2010). Sartre on the Body. England: Palgrave MacMillan.
[8] Sartre, Jean Paul. (2003). Being & Nothingness. Trans. Hazel E. Barnes. London: Routledge Classics.
[9] Svenaeus, Fredrik. (2011). “Illness as Unhomelike Being-in-the-World: Heidegger and the Phenmenology of Medicine”. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy. V. 14, Issue 3. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
[10] Leder, Drew. (2016). “Rethinking Illness: Philoctetes’ Exile”. The Distressed Body: Rethinking Illness, Incarceration, and Healing. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
[11] Toombs, S. Kay. (1992). The Meaning of Illness A Phenomenological Account of the Different Perspectives of Physician and Patient. U.S.A: Spring-Sciences and Business media, B. V.
[12] Svenaeus, Fredrik. (2000). “The Body Uncanny-Further Steps towards a Phenmenology of Illness”. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy. V. 3, Issue 2. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
[13] Gioia, Luigi. (2016). “The Threat of Death as Test for Theological Authenticity.” The Practice of the Presence of God. London: Routledge.
[14] Crosloy, Donald. A. (1988). The Specter of the Absurd Sources and Criticisms of Modern Nihilism. New York: State University of New York Press.
[15] Williams, John. (2014). Butcher’s Crossing. London: Vintage.
[16] Bergoffen, Debra. (1992). Casting Shadows: True Body in Descartes, Sartre, DeBeauvoir, and Lacan. Journal of Frencophone Philosophy. Vol. 4. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Samia Massaabi. (2022). The Alienated Body in John Williams’ Novel Stoner. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 10(4), 210-214. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.13

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    ACS Style

    Samia Massaabi. The Alienated Body in John Williams’ Novel Stoner. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2022, 10(4), 210-214. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.13

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    AMA Style

    Samia Massaabi. The Alienated Body in John Williams’ Novel Stoner. Int J Lit Arts. 2022;10(4):210-214. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.13,
      author = {Samia Massaabi},
      title = {The Alienated Body in John Williams’ Novel Stoner},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {10},
      number = {4},
      pages = {210-214},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20221004.13},
      abstract = {The concept of alienation is a multifaceted issue which has been used to describe the state of human estrangement from society, from others and even from one’s own nature. David Patterson goes further when he states that alienation becomes the norm, more than that it becomes the core of human existence. The present paper delineates bodily alienation in a host of settings, in aging, in sickness, and in death, approaching the issue from a phenomenological and philosophical point of view. At first, the phenomenon of bodily alienation depicts the physical change in the experience of aging and its effects on the protagonist. It puts into focus the alien nature of growing old, representing the body in aging as a tool and an obstacle, as it reflects upon the individual relation with others highlighting the body as a being-for others. Then, the study swirls around the changes that accompany being ill, differentiating between the lived body and body as object. As it also revives around the objectification of the body in illness through the examination stage, the loss of mastery over the body, its dysfunction and otherness. Finally, the paper depends on Sartre’s work to explore the alienated body in death, examining Stoner’s alienation during his dying hours.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    AB  - The concept of alienation is a multifaceted issue which has been used to describe the state of human estrangement from society, from others and even from one’s own nature. David Patterson goes further when he states that alienation becomes the norm, more than that it becomes the core of human existence. The present paper delineates bodily alienation in a host of settings, in aging, in sickness, and in death, approaching the issue from a phenomenological and philosophical point of view. At first, the phenomenon of bodily alienation depicts the physical change in the experience of aging and its effects on the protagonist. It puts into focus the alien nature of growing old, representing the body in aging as a tool and an obstacle, as it reflects upon the individual relation with others highlighting the body as a being-for others. Then, the study swirls around the changes that accompany being ill, differentiating between the lived body and body as object. As it also revives around the objectification of the body in illness through the examination stage, the loss of mastery over the body, its dysfunction and otherness. Finally, the paper depends on Sartre’s work to explore the alienated body in death, examining Stoner’s alienation during his dying hours.
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Author Information
  • Department of English, Faculty of Letters and Humanities of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

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