A Lacanian Study of “The Sailor and the Pious Man”

Today psychological theories have come to be considered as remarkably efficient means of analyzing literary works. In particular Jacques Lacan's psychological theory has recently become one of the most widely used tenets for critical study of literary works. In most of the Lacanian studies of literary works, Lacan’s notion of three orders (the imaginary, the symbolic and the Real) is utilized. This psychological notion is useful and effective for the psychological analysis of fictional characters which have been set to experience particular evolutionary paths. Moreover, this theoretical framework is especially effective in presenting scholars with a comprehensive framework for analyzing fictional characters of literary works. Among Arabic odes, some odes such as Khalil Havi’s “The Sailor and the Pious Man” are notably distinguished and important. This ode depicts a symbolic representation of the relation between the East and the West through two characters: the Sailor and the Pious Man. Considering this symbolic representation, the present study analyzes Havi’s ode through utilizing Lacan's psychological notion of the three orders. The study claims that the ode’s poet - as the narrator of the symbolic characters of the Sailor and the Pious Man - quickly pulls them out of the imaginary order, and puts them in the Real. Throughout this stage, the poet narrates the characters’ actions which are taken for achieving the unseen and the impossible. The nature of both the actions and their purpose can be psychologically situated in the Lacanian Real. Apart from referring to the nature of actions and their purpose, it needs to be mentioned that the ode is filled with references to death; a concept which constitutes the semantic identity of the Real. Keywords: The Sailor and the Pious Man, The Three Orders, The Real, Lacan, Khalil Havi.