Sacred and Profane: From Mortification to Masochism in Modernist Writing

本项目旨在研究现代主义（二十世纪早期）文学中精神屈辱的表现。苦行，包括自我施加痛苦或对快乐的禁欲，在许多宗教中都有，目的是否认世俗的身体。解决在一系列精神传统（基督教，佛教，印度教，伊斯兰教）的屈辱，该项目考虑全球系统的影响。现代主义作家的跨宗教兴趣使得这种对宗教影响的全球研究成为必要。这篇论文特别关注一种趋势，即20世纪早期的作家和心理学理论家指责屈辱的做法是受虐狂（通过痛苦和克制产生性快感）。现代主义作家首先探索了这种合并的心理和感官机制，并尝试了新的写作形式来充分解释（通常是模仿）其表现形式。通过对屈辱和受虐的关注，本文旨在探讨现代主义文学和文化中对性、神圣和感官的态度的变化。

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.