An Analysis on the Jouissance in Umberto Eco’s“Granita”

Tianjin Agricultural University,Tianjin,China Email:1906793549@qq.com

[Abstract]“Granita”is a short story in Italian novelist Umberto Eco’s Misreadings.The short story is actually a parody of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita.The study analyzes Eco’s Granita based on Roland Barthes’theory of Jouissance.Eco imitated the rhetorical device,writing style,narrative technique of Nabokov’s Lolita,which creates humour and satire; while deconstructed some plots and characters of Lolita,which generates unexpectation among readers.The interpretation of imitation and deconstruction is the source of jouissance.

[Keywords]Granita;Lolita;jouissance;parody

Introduction

Roland Barthes has distinguished two systems of reading:one“considers the extent of the text,ignores the play of language”,skips the“boring”parts of the text,and focuses on the anecdote(Barthes,1975,p.12); the latter is productive,for it“skips nothing,...sticks to the text”,“grasps at every point in the text”,and aims at the“layering of significance”(Barthes,1975,p.12).These two kinds of interpretation bring two different aesthetic experiences respectively:the Plaisir/Pleasure and the Jouissance/Bliss(Barthes,1975,p.14).

Text of bliss(jouissance):the text that imposes a state of loss,the text that discomforts(perhaps to the point of a certain boredom),unsettles the reader’s historical,cultural,psychological assumptions,the consistency of his tastes,values memories,brings to a crisis his relation with language(Barthes,1975,p.14).

In the pleasure text,the signifier directly refers to the signified,which forms a liner reading process from the text to its meaning.However,in the jouissance/bliss text,the signifier is in an endless nest of signified.The significance of the text lies in the pursue of signified,which must be a formidable task wherein Jouissance/bliss is evoked.

Parody is“one of the many forms of intertextual allusions out of which texts are produced”(Dentith,2000,p.6).Each signifier is endowed with a chain of potential signifieds.The interpretation of such a“fiction about fictions”(Dentith,2000,p.14)becomes a process where jouissance/bliss is produced.In Eco’s“Granita”,the author intentionally left signals to imply similarity with and deviation from Lolita.Signifiers in“Granita”contain different signifieds,likewise different layers of significance.Through interpretation,what the readers get is not just the significance of each signifier but also Jouissance/bliss in tow.

Umberto Eco’s“Granita”is a parody of Vladimir Nabokov’sLolita.Through interpretation of the parodic meaning ofGranita,jouissance can be aroused among readers.Parody has two meanings in dictionary:1.(a piece of)writing or music intended to amuse,which recognizably copies the style of a known writer or musician.2.a weak and unsuccessful copy.From the perspective of literature,two layers of connotations are revealed from this explanation:1.Parody has a target:be it amusement or something else; 2.It is an intentional imitated work.Margaret Rose has defined parody as:the comic refunctioning of preformed linguistic or artistic material(Rose,1993,p.52).In ancient Greek Literature,a parody is an imitative poem“treating light,satirical or mock-heroic subjects.”(Dentith,2000,p.10)Parody is regarded as a a“beside-or-against song”(Chambers,2010,p.3).As a beside song,the writer always adopts the similar elements from the parodied work;while as a against song,the writer creates a world which is totally different from the former one.Through interpretation of the similarities and differences,jouissance is aroused among readers.

Jouissance in the Imitation

“Granita”shares a lot similarities withLolita,which provides the readers a clue to understand the essence of the work,and the stance of the author.InLolita,“Nymphets”is the name for young girls aged between nine and fourteen.“Nymphet”or“Nymphette”is formed by“Nymph”and“ette”.The original meaning of Nymph is mythological,which refers to one of a numerous class of semi-divine beings,imagined as beautiful maidens,inhabiting the sea,rivers,fountains,hills,woods,or trees,and frequently introduced by the poets as attending on a superior being.Its counterpart in“Granita”is“Nornettes”,the term Umberto chooses to describe the old women in their eighties.Nornette is a word created by the author.“Norn”is the name of the three goddesses of fate in Northern European myth.“Ette”is a suffix which means female.Both Nymphet and Nornette are mythological,probably with magical power,in Humbert’s words,“not human,but nymphic(that is demoniac)”(Nabokov,1995,p.16).

In“Granita”the author uses a kind of writing style similar to that in Nabokov’s Lolita.Both of them are rich in parallelism,antithesis,alliteration,pun,metaphor and simile.The poetic-prose style adopted by Nabokov is perfectly imitated in Eco’s“Granita”.Parallelism is a distinctive feature in Lolita.An example worthy mentioning in“Granita”is the parallel sentence Eco adopts to describe Umberto’s hunting for nornettes:“...on the benches of old parks,in the scented penumbra of basilicsas,on the graveled paths of suberban cemeteries,in the Sunday hour at the corner of nursing home,at the doors of the hospice,in the chanting ranks of parish processions,at charity bazaars.....”(Eco,1993,p.9).The altogether seven paralleled phrases vividly describe the hardship that Umberto has undergone,and his steadfast determination of tracing the nornettes.

InLolitaalliteration is often adopted as a rhetorical device to achieve comical and artistic effect.To list a few examples:“tuberculosis in the tundra”;“hideous hieroglyphics”;“maroon morons”;“burning with desire and dyspepsia”;“a pinkish cozy,coyly covering the toilet lid”;“connubial catch-as-catch-can”;“I spend my doleful days in dumps and dolors”;“January was humid and warm,and February fooled the forsythia”.In“Granita”,the alliterated sentences or phrases are easy to find.For example,“beardless being”“beginning to bud”“slanting sunset”“spasmodic shiver”“sinking sun”“offer their breasts through unbuttoned blouses”“the remote Norn of natal shock”“acute angles”.The using of alliteration makes the language of the two works rich and colorful.

Umberto Eco borrowed some symbols fromLolita.“Flower”in Lolitais a symbol of sexual desire of Humbert.“Flower in flight”“slave flower”refer to nymphets whom Humbert desires to possess.“Flame flower”and“brown flower”imply Lolita and the sexual desire of Humbert.“Ferocious flowers”,“shivering flower”and“flowers like smoke”indicate Lolita’s hidden revolting inner world.In the sentence“Did I deprive her of her flower?”,“flower”refers to Lolita’s virginity.Humbert tries to defend himself from the sin of child molestation.He further explains“I was not even her first lover.”(Nabokov,1995,p.135)Thus Humbert’s hypocrisy is revealed.“Flower”as a symbol is adopted in“Granita”.The first sentence“Flower of my adolescence,torment of my nights.”(Eco,1993,p.7)implies Umberto’s sexual desire toward Granita and his pain when the old woman abandons him.

“Flower”means the best part of something,or rebirth.In ancient Greek Mythology,“Flower”is always connected with love and rebirth.In Greek mythology,many gods or goddesses become flowers after they died for love.Clytze,one of the Nymph,changed into a sunflower for her love of Apollo;Adonis’s blood became red roses after he rejected Venus’s love and died;River God Cephisus’s son Narcissus died of withering,and a daffodil or narcissus appeared in the place where he lied.Thus“Flower of my adolescence”implies the rebirth of Umberto after he met Granita.“Torment of my nights”firstly expresses his sexual desire when he peeps through the windows for his desired figure of Granita;secondly describes his pain when Granita abandons him and escapes with another young man.

In“Granita”,Eco also adopted a narrative structure similiar to that in Lolita.Genette uses the word anachronies to define the inconformity between the story time and narrative time,that is“...the various types of discordance between the two orderings of story and narrative”(Genette,1996,p.36).Analepses and prolepses are two main forms of anachronies.InLolitaand“Granita”the readers may find an intermingle of analepses and prolepses,which makes the story into a non-liner form.Narration in the two works is carried out in the form of confession or memoir.The whole story has already ended long before the narration begins.Furthermore,the narration is filled with juxtaposition of present and past.This narrative feature inLolitahas been discussed a lot by scholars home and abroad.Although“Granita”is a short story,it bears this narrative feature.The story time of“Granita”is:(1)Umberto’s birth and his encounter with the old midwife;(2)Umberto’s love affair with a 16-year-old girl;(3)the departure of his secret lover;(4)meet Granita in a party;(5)his memory of Granita after he lost her;(6)his condition in the prison;(7)self introduction to judges;(8)his present comments on himself and the whole event.The narrative time is:A(5),B(7),C(6),D(8),E(2),F(3),G(1),H(8),I(4).

It proves that the narration is carried out in a zigzag way.The story begins with Umberto’s memory of Granita,followed by his self introduction to the judges.However,long before the introduction has been finished,he inserts a description of his present condition,“According to those who knew me then,and not those who see me now,Reader,in this cell,haggard with the first traces of a prophet’s beard stiffening my cheeks...”(Eco,1993,p.8).Later,after he expresses his torment brought by the departure of his secret love,he suddenly jumps back to the day when he was born,and describes his encounter with a“toothless old midwife”who has determined his lifelong values of love.

Jouissance in the Deconstruction

In“Granita”the author intentionally left some signals of similarity withLolita,so as to arouse reader’s expectation.The framework of whole story,the setting of the characters,the writing style and the arrange of plots all function as the triggers of reader’s expectation.But with the disillusionment of the expectations,that is the incongruity between the two texts,what readers finally get is a reversed world,behind which the author’s stance is hidden.In this process,the reader is not just a spectator,but a producer.Through reader’s interpretation,the clear path from the signifier to the signified is constructed;the hidden meaning within the parody is dug out.

“Journey”is an important part the two stories.InLolita,Humbert took Lolita away for a journey across the northern part of the country,which is full of elicit love and hypocritical explanation.Humbert knows what has done to Lolita is illegal,and the girl is getting resentful toward him.He manages to make Lolita excited through the change of famous scenery.However,in“Granita”,Umberto’s journey with Granita is totally different.They travel with a bicylce around the region.The journey begins with the kidnap and possess of Granita,then they begin their escape after he has sensed of a follower,during which the local landscape and culture are revealed.Finally,the journey or“odyssey”ends in the betray and departure of Granita.This inconformity between the two texts generates humor and satire among readers.

The terms“nymphet”and“nornette”are two other examples.The two words are counterparts to each other.Reader’s expectation of a lovely girl,a nymphet,turns out to be an old woman,the nornette.They are terms that the protagonists in the two works choose to define their beloved one.Both of them are signifiers,the searching for the signified can be regarded as a journey of Jouissance.The jouissance experience can be reached from textual layer and the cultural layer.

Firstly,in the textual level.InLolitaNymphet is defined as maidens“between the age limits of nine and fourteen,”“reveal their true nature which is not human,but nymphic”“to certain bewitched travelers,twice or many times older than they”(Nabokov,1996,p.16).According to Humbert,not all girls between nine and fourteen are nymphets.He has his own criterion,based on which he gives the name Nymphet to two girls:Annabel and Dolores.To Humbert there are two images of Lolita.One is the ideal Nymphet in his mind,the other is the real girl Dolores or Annabel.In his psychological world,be it Annabel or Lolita,it’s always“the same child---the same frail,honey-hued shoulders,the same silky supple bare back,the same chestnut head of hair.”(Nabokov,1996,p.39)This image sublimated from his adolescent love Annabel,haunted him for later twenty-four years.Until he meets Dolores,“the loveliest nymphet”,he“incarnating her in another”.That is why Humbert always cares about the body and the appearance of Lolita,but not her inside world.Lolita is the nickname for Dolores.It is not just a name,but“his fantasy obsession”.It’s the ideal image in Humbert’s mind.The two images never overlap until the final reunion of Humbert and Lolita.The image of nornette inGranitacomes from a“shock”of an old mid-wife when Umberto was born.The image has haunted him for about sixteen years,until he met Granita.Whether the old woman’s real name is Granita or not,is worth doubt.It’s likely to be Umberto’s creation of his ideal nornette.

Secondly,in the cultural level.The definition of“nymphet”in Oxford Dictionary is:a young girl who is very sexually attractive.The word’s origin can be traced back to the 17th century when nymph refers to a mythological spirit of nature imagined as a beautiful maiden.Since the widespread ofLolita,this term has got a new meaning of a sexual and attractive girl.Lolita,the name of the nymphet girl has already become a symbol of the charming girls.In China the word“Luo Li”becomes a synonym for girls from eight to fourteen.In Japan it has already become a subculture.Nornette carries the mythological tradition either.Norn is the virgin goddesses of fate in northern European myth.In the text world of“Granita”,nornette refers to woman more than eighty years old.The sharp contrast with nymphet satirizes the absurdity in the text world as well as the modern society.

Conclusion

To some degree,to create humor,satire and irony are the targets of the encoded text.InGranita,many of the author’s deliberate implications lead to the unfulfilled expectation.Thus humor is created.Eco satirizes the irrationality and absurdity of modern world through inconformity between the two texts.All the word play and loft expressions are adopted as means to cloak his immorality as molester.Then reader’s interpretation of such a“fiction about fictions”(Dentith,2000,p.14)is always a hard task.Roland Barthes argues that the readable text and the writable text bring two different aesthetic experiences respectively:the Plaisir/Pleasure and the Jouissance/Bliss(Barthes,1975,p.14).The interpretation of a parody becomes a aesthetic experience of jouissance.As Nabokov once stated himself,“I like composing riddles and I like finding elegant solutions to those riddles that I have composed myself.”(Golla,2017,p.x)The“riddle”created by Nabokov is borrowed by Eco in hisGranita.To find the solution of the riddle is to gain jouissance.This study is helpful for readers to further understanding the real essence of the two works.

Acknowledgements

This paper is a research finding of the project supported by Scientific Research Project of Tianjin Municipal Commission of Education：A Study on the Image of Tianjin in the Major English Newspapers in Tianjin from 1860 to 1949(Grant No.2019SK016).