Sacred and Profane: From Mortification to Masochism in Modernist Writing

本项目旨在研究现代主义(二十世纪初)文学中精神屈辱的表现。屈辱的行为，包括自我施加痛苦或禁止快乐，在多种宗教中进行，目的是否认世俗的身体。解决一系列精神传统(基督教、佛教、印度教、伊斯兰教)中的屈辱问题，这个项目考虑的是全球影响系统。现代主义作家的跨宗教兴趣使得这种全球性的宗教影响方法是必要的。这篇论文特别关注一种趋势，即20世纪初的作家和心理学理论家指责屈辱的做法是受虐狂的(通过痛苦和约束产生性快乐)。现代主义作家是第一个探索这种融合的心理和感官机制的人，并试验了新的写作形式来充分解释(往往是戏仿)它的表现。通过其对屈辱和受虐狂的关注，本文旨在考虑改变现代主义文学和文化对性、神圣和感官的态度。

This project proposes to research the representation of spiritual mortification in modernist (early twentieth century) literature. Acts of mortification, involving the self-infliction of pain or the abstinence from pleasure, are performed in multiple religions and aim to deny the worldly body. Addressing mortification in a range of spiritual traditions (Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic), this project considers global systems of influence. The cross-religious interests of modernist authors make this global approach to religious influence necessary.This thesis focuses particularly on a trend whereby authors and psychological theorists of the early twentieth century accused mortifying practices of being masochistic (of generating sexual pleasure through pain and restraint). Modernist authors were the first to explore the psychological and sensory mechanics of this conflation and experimented with new forms of writing to fully explicate (and often parody) its manifestation. Through its focus on mortification and masochism, this thesis aims to consider changing attitudes to sexuality, the sacred, and the sensory in modernist literature and culture.