Sarah Kane’s Blasted – Genesis of the Subject

Abstract

Sarah Kane's debut Blasted depicts the main character Ian in a state of existential crisis at the end of the play. He dies and is later reborn, which can be analysed as a complex staging of the process of subject formation when approached from a psychoanalytical point of view. Julia Kristeva's conception of the subject's development and especially her notion of the abject are well suited to describe some of the gruesome actions that occur in Kane's plays. Applying Kristeva's psychoanalytical theory may serve to show that underlying these actions of horror is more than a rebellious will to shock the audience. In this article, I want to explore the incidents of abjection in Blasted in regard to Ian's development, focusing on the final scene where a breakdown and (re)formation of the subject takes place. The staging of a genesis of the subject in this scene is furthermore underscored by strong references to the biblical account of creation through God in seven days. By facing abjection, the subject comes into contact with the semiotic stage of being: a pre-linguistic state, a state of crisis. Religious structures serve as the symbolic order that tries to deal with this situation. Ian vividly portrays the subject's struggle between the semiotic and the symbolic, the abject and the religious order -a struggle that is inherent in the general human condition.Sarah Ablett: E-Mail: s.ablett@tu-braunschweig.deThe final scene of Sarah Kane's debut Blasted (1995) shows the main character Ian in a desolate state. He is on his own apart from a buried baby and a dead soldier. His former companion Cate has left him. What started out as a meeting in a hotel room in Leeds between two people who had been in an amorous but violent relationship has turned into a war scenario: the soldier had entered the hotel room, brutally violated Ian and then shot himself. Ian had tried to commit suicide but could not find the gun, and Cate was not willing to help him. In this last scene, Ian experiences the most basal states of human life, then dies and is reborn when Cate returns.While Ian goes through a series of existential experiences, there is no more speech on stage -the action is solely presented through dramatic images. Kane explains why she chose body language over spoken language as follows: