Beyond an Ecology of Mind: The Sublime Trauma of Ballard and Faulkner’s
Metaphoric Landscape

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Comparative analysis of William Faulkner and J. G. Ballard; specifically
looking at the topology of their metaphors, while using the lens of
Gregory Bateson’s theory of the double bind as a tool for articulating
the internal structure of their metaphors (including similes, metonymy,
etc.). Russian Formalist notions of fabula and syuzhet are useful in
unpicking this narratological structure, as a more detailed version of
the distinction between tenor and vehicle within metaphoric language.
The main works from these authors are (bearing in mind, that it’s
already quite expansive, so the set of works is relatively limited,
though can be expanded where necessary): As I Lay Dying, All the Dead
Pilots, The Concrete Island, and The Enormous Space – I had decided on
one novel and one short story from each author, though, again, this
limited selection can be expanded if seen as necessary. Along with the
literary works, another primary source is Gregory Bateson’s Steps to an
Ecology of Mind.

Beyond an Ecology of Mind: The Sublime Trauma of Ballard and Faulkner’s
Metaphoric Landscape

The main notion, as reflected in the type of metaphoric structure used,
is that of inversions across chiastic structures leading to a sense of
the sublime, by way of evoking some of the Otherness and alterity of
individuals experiencing their own consciousness. In order to capture
this, the Burkean sublime, along with Freudian sublimation (and their
shared etymological history) form central aspects – that is to say, the
sublime trauma of self-hood is sublimated into the complete dissolution
and reconstitution of self, by way folding the abstract and concrete
into one another, where such psychological upheaval is in itself a form
of trauma.

Beyond an Ecology of Mind: The Sublime Trauma of Ballard and Faulkner’s
Metaphoric Landscape

Lastly, as a nod to Bateson’s notion of ‘metalogues’ (DEFINITION: “A
metalogue is a conversation about some problematic subject. This
conversation should be such that not only do the participants discuss
the problem but the structure of the conversation as a whole is also
relevant to the same subject”), I wanted the overall structure of the
dissertation to capture this double format. This is the reason four
works have been chosen; as a way of structurally mirroring Gremias’
four-term homology or ‘semiotic square’, with Bateson’s idea of the
double-bind forming the central point of intersection between the four
parts.

Beyond an Ecology of Mind: The Sublime Trauma of Ballard and Faulkner’s
Metaphoric Landscape

Some additional distinctions: Landscape of metaphor as embodying some
fundamental aspects of consciousness and landscape as a metaphor for
consciousness – embodied via affect, through the sublime and
sublimation, with the Uncanny as effect.

I hope this makes sense. I will send what I have written so far, some
additional notes, some selected quotes from Bateon’s Steps to an Ecology
of Mind, a scan of a whiteboard which lays these ideas out (badly), some
relevant papers a supervisor sent me, etc. There is still some material
existing only as annotations and highlights, which I will try to forward
ASAP, but just wanted to get this process underway – I hope this will be
OK; to send more bits and pieces after the fact?
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Beyond an Ecology of Mind: The Sublime Trauma of Ballard and Faulkner’s
Metaphoric Landscape