Mapping the Self: Leonora Carrington’s Journey through the Mad Mind in "Down Below"

ABSTRACT: This article examines the Map of Down Below as a central element for understanding Leonora Carrington’s "Down Below" (1944). Carrington’s Surrealist memoir about madness, first dictated in French and then translated into and published in English, recounts her experience of being...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Parra Fernández, Laura de la
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/92410
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/92410
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:821.111Carrington, Leonora7dow
929Carrington, Leonora
Surrealism
Leonora Carrington
Life writing
British modernism
Medical humanities
Surrealismo
Escritura autobiográfica
Modernismo británico
Humanidades médicas
Filología inglesa
Literatura
Prosa
Escritores
Dibujo
Psiquiatría
6202 Teoría, Análisis y Crítica Literarias
5501 Biografías
6203.04 Dibujo, Grabado
3211 Psiquiatría
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network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling Mapping the Self: Leonora Carrington’s Journey through the Mad Mind in "Down Below"Trazar un mapa del Yo: el viaje de Leonora Carrington a través de la locura en «Down Below»Parra Fernández, Laura de la821.111Carrington, Leonora7dow929Carrington, LeonoraSurrealismLeonora CarringtonLife writingBritish modernismMedical humanitiesSurrealismoLeonora CarringtonEscritura autobiográficaModernismo británicoHumanidades médicasFilología inglesaLiteraturaProsaEscritoresDibujoPsiquiatría6202 Teoría, Análisis y Crítica Literarias5501 Biografías6203.04 Dibujo, Grabado3211 PsiquiatríaABSTRACT: This article examines the Map of Down Below as a central element for understanding Leonora Carrington’s "Down Below" (1944). Carrington’s Surrealist memoir about madness, first dictated in French and then translated into and published in English, recounts her experience of being interned in a mental asylum during the early Francoist dictatorship in Spain while trying to flee from the Nazis in France. The text has often been read as a Surrealist autobiography contesting André Breton’s "Nadja" (1928). However, and without disavowing this reading, I argue that the way in which Carrington narrates her experience of madness is a means to gather knowledge about the world and the Self beyond the literary and institutional conventions of the time, namely, autobiography and eugenic psychiatry as part of the authoritarian state. Thus, I explore how "Down Below", as life writing, illuminates a form of truth that deviates from the autobiographical tradition of the unitarian Self. Carrington’s found truth sheds light on other possibilities of experiencing —or creating— the Self, while she also challenges both the normative Francoist psychiatry and traditional life writing.Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos (AEDEAN)Universidad Complutense de Madrid20212021-01-0120212021-01-01journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/92410reponame:Docta Complutenseinstname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/924102026-06-02T12:44:21Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Mapping the Self: Leonora Carrington’s Journey through the Mad Mind in "Down Below"
Trazar un mapa del Yo: el viaje de Leonora Carrington a través de la locura en «Down Below»
title Mapping the Self: Leonora Carrington’s Journey through the Mad Mind in "Down Below"
spellingShingle Mapping the Self: Leonora Carrington’s Journey through the Mad Mind in "Down Below"
Parra Fernández, Laura de la
821.111Carrington, Leonora7dow
929Carrington, Leonora
Surrealism
Leonora Carrington
Life writing
British modernism
Medical humanities
Surrealismo
Leonora Carrington
Escritura autobiográfica
Modernismo británico
Humanidades médicas
Filología inglesa
Literatura
Prosa
Escritores
Dibujo
Psiquiatría
6202 Teoría, Análisis y Crítica Literarias
5501 Biografías
6203.04 Dibujo, Grabado
3211 Psiquiatría
title_short Mapping the Self: Leonora Carrington’s Journey through the Mad Mind in "Down Below"
title_full Mapping the Self: Leonora Carrington’s Journey through the Mad Mind in "Down Below"
title_fullStr Mapping the Self: Leonora Carrington’s Journey through the Mad Mind in "Down Below"
title_full_unstemmed Mapping the Self: Leonora Carrington’s Journey through the Mad Mind in "Down Below"
title_sort Mapping the Self: Leonora Carrington’s Journey through the Mad Mind in "Down Below"
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Parra Fernández, Laura de la
author Parra Fernández, Laura de la
author_facet Parra Fernández, Laura de la
author_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidad Complutense de Madrid
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv 821.111Carrington, Leonora7dow
929Carrington, Leonora
Surrealism
Leonora Carrington
Life writing
British modernism
Medical humanities
Surrealismo
Leonora Carrington
Escritura autobiográfica
Modernismo británico
Humanidades médicas
Filología inglesa
Literatura
Prosa
Escritores
Dibujo
Psiquiatría
6202 Teoría, Análisis y Crítica Literarias
5501 Biografías
6203.04 Dibujo, Grabado
3211 Psiquiatría
topic 821.111Carrington, Leonora7dow
929Carrington, Leonora
Surrealism
Leonora Carrington
Life writing
British modernism
Medical humanities
Surrealismo
Leonora Carrington
Escritura autobiográfica
Modernismo británico
Humanidades médicas
Filología inglesa
Literatura
Prosa
Escritores
Dibujo
Psiquiatría
6202 Teoría, Análisis y Crítica Literarias
5501 Biografías
6203.04 Dibujo, Grabado
3211 Psiquiatría
description ABSTRACT: This article examines the Map of Down Below as a central element for understanding Leonora Carrington’s "Down Below" (1944). Carrington’s Surrealist memoir about madness, first dictated in French and then translated into and published in English, recounts her experience of being interned in a mental asylum during the early Francoist dictatorship in Spain while trying to flee from the Nazis in France. The text has often been read as a Surrealist autobiography contesting André Breton’s "Nadja" (1928). However, and without disavowing this reading, I argue that the way in which Carrington narrates her experience of madness is a means to gather knowledge about the world and the Self beyond the literary and institutional conventions of the time, namely, autobiography and eugenic psychiatry as part of the authoritarian state. Thus, I explore how "Down Below", as life writing, illuminates a form of truth that deviates from the autobiographical tradition of the unitarian Self. Carrington’s found truth sheds light on other possibilities of experiencing —or creating— the Self, while she also challenges both the normative Francoist psychiatry and traditional life writing.
publishDate 2021
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021
2021-01-01
2021
2021-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/92410
url https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/92410
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos (AEDEAN)
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos (AEDEAN)
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Docta Complutense
instname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
instname_str Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
reponame_str Docta Complutense
collection Docta Complutense
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15.300719

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