The ambivalence of form

Theories of the novel - particularly the realist or mimetic novel - customarily regard literary form as a means of representing a real, historical world. But Georg Lukacs challenged this view, arguing in his Theory of the Novel that literary form also plays an important role in the creation of subjectivity. In The Ambivalence of Form, Susan Derwin develops Lukacs's ideas by comparing them with Sigmund Freud's discussion of mimetic form in Totem and Taboo. Derwin then examines the relationship between subjectivity and form in four works: Balzac's La Recherche de l'absolu, Bronte's Jane Eyre, Fontane's Frau Jenny Treibel, and Percy's The Second Coming. While realistic in their portrayals, each of these novels, she argues, contains "counter-narratives" that violate the realistic principle. Derwin considers the significance of these "counter-narratives" in light of theoretical concerns raised by the authors in their essays or in the novels themselves. By bringing together the work of Lukacs and Freud, Derwin reveals how the creation of subjectivity is a common concern of both aesthetics and psychoanalysis. She also demonstrates the continuing relevance of Lukacs's work to studies of the novel and offers a significant contribution to the understanding of his early influence on the Frankfurt School.