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“Being hen no hing”: Physicali y, abjec ion and c ea ion in
Janice Galloway’s sho ic ion
JORGE SACIDO ROMERO
Uni e sidad de San iago de Compos ela (Spain)
Recei ed: 05/11/2018. Accep ed: 30/04/2019.
ABSTRACT
This a icle explo es he p ominence o he body in Janice Galloway‟s sho ic ion. D awing mainly on
K is e a‟s no ions o he semio ic and he abjec , he a gumen ini ially es ablishes he cen al place o
physicali y in Galloway‟s poe ics. He c ea i e p ojec is inspi ed by a desi e o ansmi in w i ing he
expe ience o being ali e, o how being is in insically agile, inexo ably bound o ex inc ion. In a pa icula ly
sha p manne ha engages he eade mo e ac i ely han he no els, he sho s o ies exhibi bo h o mally and
hema ically an in e ac ion o he symbolic and he semio ic. As being a en i e o li e en ails an awa eness o
dea h i one is o w i e ealis ically, he ensuing discussion o s o ies om he h ee collec ions –Blood (1991),
Whe e you ind i (1996) and Jelly ish (2015)– e eals ha abjec ion, he ex eme e sion o he semio ic ha
h ea ens o cancel ou he symbolic, is pa amoun in he c ea i e uni e se.
KEYWORDS: Janice Galloway, sho ic ion, he body, abjec ion, being, dea h, K is e a, Blancho .
1. THE LETTER KILLETH AND GIVETH LIFE: GALLOWAY’S BODY POETICS
Acco ding o Alexande Kojè e, he wo d was o Hegel he mu de o he hing.1 Thus, o
ins ance, “ he wo d „dog‟”, Kojè e explains, “does no un, d ink, and ea ; in i he Meaning
(Essence) ceases o li e – ha is, i dies” (1969: 140). S ongly in luenced –like Jacques
Lacan and o he F ench in ellec uals o he ime– by Kojè e‟s seminal
_____________________
*Add ess o co espondence:Facul ade de Filoloxía, Uni e sidade de San iago de Compos ela, A da./Cas elao
s/n, 15782 A Co uña, Spain; e-mail: jo[email p o ec ed]
In e na ional Jou nal
o
English S udies
IJES
UNIVERSITY OF MURCIA
h p:// e is as.um.es/ijes
134 Jo ge Sacido Rome o
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eading o Hegel, Mau ice Blancho s a es ha “ he wo d gi es me he being, bu i gi es i o
me dep i ed o being. The wo d is he absence o ha being, i s no hingness” (1995: 322).
Fo Blancho li e a u e is p ecisely he a emp o b ing back o li e h ough language ha
which language i sel had mu de ed:
In speech wha dies is wha gi es li e o speech; […] some hing was he e and is no
longe he e. Some hing has disappea ed. How can I eco e i , how can I u n a ound
and look a wha exis s be o e, i all my powe consis s o making i in o wha exis s
a e ? The language o li e a u e is a sea ch o his momen which p ecedes li e a u e.
Li e a u e usually calls i exis ence; i wan s he ca as i exis s, he pebble aking he side
o hings, no man bu he pebble […] I say a lowe ! Bu in he absence whe e I men ion
i , […] I passiona ely summon he da kness o his lowe , I summon his pe ume ha
passes h ough me hough I do no b ea he i , his dus ha imp egna es me hough I do
no see i , his colo which is a ace and no ligh . (1995: 327)
The con ic ion ha he ask o li e a u e is o escue hings (ca s, lowe s, pebbles…)
om he deadly ne o concep ual abs ac ions h ough he sensual e oca ion o hei
physicali y is e y s ong in he case o he Sco ish w i e Janice Galloway. To Geo gina
B own, who amously desc ibed Galloway as “a li e a y endoscopis ” and de ined he
w i ing as “ isce al”, she decla ed on occasion o he publica ion o he second collec ion o
s o ies (Whe e you ind i ) ha she was engaged in he “ e y complex and e y ambiguous”
ask “‟ o w i e ealis ically abou wha i eels o be ali e‟” (1996). In so doing, he mos
impo an o all he “‟essen ials‟” (as she called hem) o he w i ing was “ o make he eade
eel” (B own, 1996). Fo Galloway, co po eali y, physicali y, sensuali y, in sum, he body is
o be escued om ex inc ion h ough w i ing and sha ed wi h he eade in wha cons i u es a
uly uni e sal expe ience: “I wan people o know[,] o emembe ha I am a body, no some
kind o g ea b ain schlumping abou being an abs ac u h. I ha e he kind o w i ing ha
in la es he in ellec in o he only hing ha ma e s – he e is a ho ible eli is game going on
he e– a „le ‟s escape om he body‟. We a e ou bodies and no ma e wha you backg ound
[…] We all eel he same when we ouch hings, ha ‟s he eal uni e sal” (Galloway in
B own, 1996).
Th ee yea s la e , in an in e iew wi h C is ie Leigh Ma ch o he Edinbu gh e iew,
Galloway admi ed ha she was “ob iously ascina ed by physicali y –some imes epulsed,
some imes wildly a ac ed. […] Physicali y is always a ocus” (1999: 97, emphasis added).
Bo h Galloway‟s ascina ion wi h physicali y and i s hema ic ecu ence in he wo k ha e
di ec ly o do wi h, she s a es, “my own obsession wi h […] dea h. Dea h is he mos biza e
idea. Being hen no hing” (Ma ch, 1999: 97). Mo eo e , i is his ascina ion wi h being and
wi h i s ine i able annihila ion ha makes he a w i e , ha should make anyone a w i e : “I
Physicali y, abjec ion and c ea ion in Janice Galloway’s sho ic ion 135
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you‟ e no ascina ed wi h he simple ac o being”, Galloway s a es, “you‟ e no go a lo o
w i e abou ” (Ma ch, 1999: 97).
Galloway‟s impulse owa ds li e a y c ea i i y de i es, he e o e, om he e o o
con ey o he eade in w i ing he sense o being‟s agile physicali y which (as Julia
K is e a calls i ollowing Jacques Lacan “ he symbolic”, as one modali y o signi icance)
has emp ied ou o subs ance in i s abs ac , disc e e o ganisa ion o eali y (1984: 24). I is in
li e a y, poe ic language ha , acco ding o K is e a, he dialec ic o “ he symbolic” and he
o he modali y a wo k in he signi ying p ocess, “ he semio ic”, becomes pa icula ly
in ense. In ways akin o Blancho ‟s idea ha “[ ]he language o li e a u e is a sea ch o
[..]wha exis s be o e” he wo d mu de s he hing, K is e a poin s ou ha (wha she calls)
“ he semio ic cho a” is “a modali y o signi icance in which he linguis ic sign is no ye
a icula ed as he absence o he objec and as he dis inc ion be ween he eal and he
symbolic” (1984: 26, emphasis added). The semio ic dis up s he s abili y and cohe ence o
he symbolic, blu s i s p esumably mime ic anspa ency (hence i s ans o ma i e,
e olu iona y c ea i e powe )2 and e okes in he subjec he momen in which he/she was no
ye sepa a ed om he objec , p imo dially, om he mo he (K is e a, 1984: 27), om he
mo he as he o he ha mus be ep essed, expelled, “ab-jec ed” in o de o us o cons i u e
ou iden i y as subjec s (1982: 13).
In speaking and w i ing he co po eal, he semio ic and i s ex eme mani es a ion, he
abjec 3 a e linked by K is e a o Lacan‟s no ions o he “ eal”, “jouissance”, and “d i e”,
h ee e ms ha a e in e ela ed in hei des abilising e ec s on he symbolic o de as ha
ins i u ed by he pa e nal law ( o Lacan he eal is he unsymbolisable), egula ed by he
no malising pleasu e p inciple ( o Lacan jouissance is beyond he pleasu e p inciple and has
o gasmic conno a ions) and as he place whe e he subjec ‟s desi e is a icula ed (in s a k
con as wi h he d i e, which is “wha a biological ins inc becomes once i is subjec o he
signi ie [… and so is connec ed] o he eal o he o eclosed biological body” [Kay, 2003:
162]). Hence K is e a‟s a i ma ion in Powe s o ho o ha “i [ he O he , he symbolic
o de ] je isons he objec in o he abominable eal, inaccessible excep h ough jouissance. I
ollows ha jouissance alone causes he abjec o exis as such. One does no know i , one
does no desi e i , one joys in i [on en joui ]. Violen ly and pain ully. A passion” (K is e a,
1982: 9).
K is e a‟s dialec ic in e wea ing o he semio ic and he symbolic, like Blancho ‟s
li e a y sea ch o wha p ecedes li e a u e, is in line wi h Galloway‟s a emp o make he
eade eel and wi h he “hope [ ha ] wha is picked up is ansmi ed in mo e en i e y –by
sugges ion, pe haps– han he wo ds alone can do. I deal a lo in bodily sensa ion oo”
(Sacido-Rome o, 2018). Indeed, depic ions o he physical, ma e ial, sca ological, ca nal,
sensual, leshy, isce al, bodily un like a h ead in Galloway‟s ic ion, ye , because o hei
condensa ion, limi ed ame, elisions, and concen a ion, hose depic ions impac he eade
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mo e i idly and a ec him/he mo e in ensely han is he case wi h longe na a i es.4 The
ac ha sho ic ion engages eade s mo e ac i ely has been equen ly singled ou as a
de ining ea u e o he gen e (Ko e, 2003: 5; B osch, 2015: 93). Galloway he sel s a es ha
she “like[s] he in ensi y and ai y space hey [sho na a i es] o e o he head o oam”
(Sacido-Rome o, 2018). Sho s o ies, hence, become ap ehicles o achie e ano he o he
majo aims (o “essen ials”) o he w i ing: namely, “hauling he eade in […] o make hem
[ eade s] do pa o he wo k and b ing he expe iences ha hey ha e” (B own, 1996). I his
wo ks o longe na a i es like he second no el Fo eign pa s (1994), whe e (in he own
wo ds) “[ ]he a e hapsodies abou Rona‟s [one o he wo main cha ac e s‟] ace, plum
memb ane on he lips, he body‟s esis ance o exe cise” (Ma ch, 1999: 97), such de ails
would lea e a mo e sha p, ocused, uni ied imp ession on eade s o sho s o ies whe e he e
is li le space o bu y hem unde a heap o na a i e de ail.
Galloway‟s sho ic ion abounds in examples o he semio ic and he abjec as a way o
link w i ing o he body and he ma e ial, o esusci a e he being ha language in i s
symbolic modali y has mu de ed, imposing he iew ha wo ds as bea e s o ideal concep s
a e ac ually anspa en ep esen a ions o he wo ld, o hings, o being. In Galloway‟s
s o ies, he semio ic is con eyed h ough bo h o mal s a egies –like an uncon en ional use
o ypog aphy, agmen ed syn ac ical pe iods and ung amma ical language (which con e on
he na a i es a poe ic quali y)5– and ecu en mo i s ha unde line he sensual, equen ly
abjec dimension ha he wo k explo es. No quay (2000) eads Galloway‟s ypog aphical
expe imen a ion in he i s wo no els (The ick is o keep b ea hing and Fo eign pa s) as
an ins ance o Hélène Cixous‟ éc i u e eminine, pa icula ly he use o he uppe -case as a
ec o o conduc o o in ense ene gy cu en s (135). McGlynn (2008) in e p e s he
pa icula layou design, ypese ing and isuali y o The ick is o keep b ea hing (1989) as
he book‟s way o “asse he physicali y o he ex ” so ha i “demand[s] he eade o
app oach i as objec ” (229). P ecisely, o Blancho , he hope o he e ie al o being
h ough/in language lay on “ he ac ha wo ds a e hings, oo, a e a kind o na u e” (1995:
327). Wo ds, om his new pe spec i e, become solid, conc e e, ma e ial, while be o e hey
we e seen as epheme al, abs ac , ideal. Somewha p e igu ing K is e a‟s cogi a ions on he
semio ic ob usca ion o meaning ul symbolic anspa ency, Blancho concludes by
highligh ing he ma e iali y o he li e a y wo k: “language, abandoning he sense, he
meaning which was all i wan ed o be, ies [no ully achie es] o become senseless.
E e y hing physical akes p ecedence: hy hm, weigh , mass, shape, and he pape on which
one w i es, he ace o ink, he book. Yes, happily language is a hing: i is a w i en hing”
(1995: 327, emphasis added). Wi hou neglec ing his o mal, ma e ial dimension o li e a y
language when deemed mos ele an , I will concen a e in wha ollows on he conspicuous
hema ic p esence o he physical, he sensual and he abjec in a bunch o sho s o ies by
Janice Galloway ha illus a e he poe ics o he body.
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2. GOING TO THE BUTCHER’S
Galloway‟s one-page s o y “The mea ” (Blood 1991) opens wi h a s iking image o o ing
mea hanging om a hook in a s a e o abjec isola ion which is ypog aphically ein o ced
by he double space ha sepa a es his one-sen ence pa ag aph o om he ollowing one as
i cu ou om he es o he ex in which li e goes on: “The ca cass hung in he shop o
nine days ill he edges conges ed and u ned b own in he ai ” (2009: 108). This piece o
unsaleable mea , we a e old, had some hing in i ha “was in ec ing” and “[b]y he en h
day, he a on i s su ace u ned lea he y and anslucen like he ind o an old cheese”
(Galloway, 2009: 108). Tac ile and ol ac i e s imuli ollow (“The ibs we e s icky and he
smell had begun o epulse him [ he bu che ]” [Galloway, 2009: 109]) so much so ha he
shop owne ends up h owing “i in o he back close pa allel o he s ee ” o immedia ely
“hea he scu ling o small animals and s ays” p esumably gnawing on i (Galloway, 2009:
109). Recalling he sha p, epig amma ic u ning poin o an English sonne ‟s closing couple ,
eade s ind ou only a he e y end ha he ca cass on sale was he co pse o he bu che ‟s
wi e, a clima ic conclusion eached a e a na a i e p og ession pe mea ed by a sensual in
c escendo: “In he mo ning, all ha emained was he hai and a s ip o a an ibbon. These
he sal aged and sealed in a plain wooden box benea h he ma i al bed. A wee minding”
(Galloway, 2009: 109).
Based on a class oom expe imen she conduc ed, Ma ín Aleg e eads he s uden s‟
eac ions o uncom o able su p ise a he s o y‟s conclusion as Galloway‟s “incisi e
c i icism o a pa ia chy so dominan ha we don‟ see women‟s ill- ea ed bodies, no e en
when hei sad emains a e ully displayed” (2009: 462). To Ma in Aleg e‟s sagacious
conclusion i could be added ha Galloway‟s indic men o pa ia chal mu de ous iolence in
“The mea ” is e en mo e incisi e and c ude i one akes in o accoun no jus he eade s‟
bu also he cus ome s‟ eac ion o he ca cass whose iden i y hey do no igno e, bu , on he
con a y, may know all oo well: “no one wan ed he mea . I d opped o e head om a claw
hook, layed and spli down he spinal column: amilia enough in i s way” (2009: 108,
emphasis added). E en i he ca cass we e in a s a e ha made i di icul o iden i y i as he
wi e‟s body, cus ome s could no ha e missed “ he hai and he s ip o a an ibbon” as he
bu che keeps a so o macab e ophy. The communi y o unnamed/ungende ed shoppe s,
hus, ole a e homicidal domes ic iolence and a once eac wi h u e disgus in he p esence
o wha is eally a co pse. The co pse was p ecisely o K is e a he epi ome o he abjec ,
he emainde and eminde o he body‟s agili y be o e dea h: “The co pse, seen wi hou
God and ou side science, is he u mos abjec ion. I is dea h in ec ing li e. Abjec . I is
some hing ejec ed om which one does no pa ” (1982: 4). Flesh, unsuccess ully
commodi ied woman‟s lesh ( ha is, “mea ”), in a s a e o decomposi ion, becomes e use o
li ing ellow human beings and ood o animals and pa asi es who (like Kea s‟ nigh ingale)
ha e no conscience o dea h.
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Galloway‟s opposi e eac ions o a ac ion and epulsion owa ds physicali y show in
he ela i ely ecu en e e ence o bu che s, bu che s‟ shops and mea in he sho s o ies.6
Because, indeed, he ension be ween physicali y‟s appeal and disgus in Galloway is
in ensely mani es ed in ea ing, mo e p ecisely, in esponses o ood.7 Thus, a he clima ic
poin in he no el in which she became o decided o become an ano exic (“I didn’ need o
ea ”), Galloway‟s cen al cha ac e in The ick is o keep b ea hing, Joy S one, looks a he
con en s o a can o ege able soup and says ha he s u “was sickening bu pleasan ly so”
(1999: 38, las emphases added). Ye , among he di e en ypes o ood, mea is he one ha
p o okes he mos ambiguous eac ions in humans. As Holm poin s ou in he K is e an
eading o Claude Chab ol‟s ilm Le bouche (The bu che , 1969), “mea is pe haps he
ul ima e abjec objec as i necessi a es he dea h o a body o eed ano he body, b inging
oge he li e and dea h in he mos di ec o manne s” (2017: 160). The bu che is likewise an
ambiguous social igu e as mea deale , as a me chan o he abjec . Holm expands he
analysis o Chab ol‟s cen al cha ac e , a se ial kille o beau i ul women, o p opose a
gene al desc ip ion o he abjec s a us o he bu che and o mea ha is ele an o my
discussion o he ecu ence o hese ela ed mo i s in Galloway‟s s o ies. “E en bu che s
who do no u n hei kni es on ellow humans”, Holm w i es, “s addle he di ide be ween
li e and dea h, ende ing hem liminal igu es in ima ely in ol ed in he sou cing o one o
he mos anxie y- idden oods. I is his quo idian c ossing o he bounda y be ween li ing
and dea h ha ende bo h he bu che and mea as con lic ed symbols and highly ambi alen .
[… The bu che ‟s] posi ion [is ha o ] an in e media y be ween socie y and he abjec ”
(2017: 159). By choosing o i le he s o y “The mea ” ins ead o “The ca cass” o “The
bu che ”, Galloway pu s he accen on he abjec s a us o his ype o ood while, o cou se,
misleading he eade and adding o his/he inal su p ise when he u h o a ho id pa icidal
ac is e ealed.
“a e he ains” (Whe e you ind i ) is a mo e openly u ban Go hic an asy han “The
mea ”. The s o y is loca ed in Glasgow and is punc ua ed wi h b oken sen ences in i alics
inse ed as a iable unpunc ua ed and uncapi alised poe ic e ains ha add o he sense o
u e dis up ion o he no mal o de o hings ha he ex p o okes in eade s. This is he
s o y o how nine mon hs o un emi ing ain all and an ensuing hea wa e b eed mons e s.
Like loose e ain-like agmen s sca e ed in he ex , subjec s and objec s lose hei
dema ca ions, bounda ies a e e ased in he mos biza e ways, mi aculous ans o ma ions
occu (sp ou s and lea es g ow in a lo is ‟s body ill she becomes a ga den, o ins ance) ill
ex e nal eali y is in aded by an amo phous wo m-like being (“An eno mous whi e g ub
sp ead he leng h o he pa emen , bulbous ips wa ing in wha looked ho ibly like appeal”
[Galloway, 2009: 236, emphasis added]) and by a ea u eless ghos whose physicali y is
ne e heless highligh ed: “Beyond his ne eless hing, a h ee-headed phan om g oped
o wa d on i s hands and knees. Whe e ea u es should ha e been was only igh , smoo h
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skin, blanke -g ey and eyeless” (Galloway, 2009: 236). The I-na a o escapes om he ouch
o ano he such phan om (“I d ew back, epulsed, ea ing he hing i migh ouch would be
me” [Galloway, 2009: 236. My emphasis]) and inds him/he sel “ acing he bu che s‟”,
whe e bloody sac i icial i uals appea o be aking place as he shop seems o mu a e in o a
chu ch: “a pi i ul sc eeching o ced me o u n. I was acing he bu che s‟. The howling and
he bloody ail a hei doo way. The aw ul dea h s ench and low weeping o child en,
childish oices seeping unde he doo o he chu ch” (Galloway, 2009: 236). This
nigh ma ish blu ing o bounda ies ha is a once appealing and epulsi e is a ic ional
example o he abjec as de ined by K is e a in he e y i s pa ag aph o he book-leng h
s udy on he opic: “a o ex o summons and epulsion places he one haun ed by i li e ally
beside himsel ” (1982: 1). The I-na a o canno bu look back while she/he uns as e and
as e seemingly ac oss he line ha sepa a es li e om dea h as he/she inally inds
him/he sel mu a ing in o a co pse. Typog aphical agmen a ion ein o ces he p o agonis ‟s
eeling o being beside him/he sel in he s o y‟s concluding passage:
My hands we e e y pale and whi ening s ill. Thinning.
They we e s a k whi e.
I kep on unning. (Galloway, 2009: 236)
In p esence o he abjec , whose epi ome is he co pse, K is e a a gues, “I am a he
bo de o my condi ion as a li ing being” (1982: 3). The biza e ans o ma ions people
unde go in “a e he ains” ha e igh ly been in e p e ed as he ci izens‟ ansmu a ion in o
hei social unc ions which unde mines human closeness and he sense o communi y
(Ma ch, 2002: 127). Bu his is no he whole message o he s o y as, om ano he
pe spec i e, i is no only ha hese ma ellous me amo phoses ac ually upse a he han
main ain he abs ac o de o symbolic posi ions and unc ions ende ing i ine ec i e, bu
also ha , as he inal ans o ma ion o he I-na a o epi omises, human li e is pushed on o
and, appa en ly, ac oss he h eshold ha sepa a es i om dea h a he s o y‟s inconclusi e
conclusion. As eade s each he end o he s o y he p o agonis seems o each he end o
his/he li e. Howe e , his inal momen is ende ed as an uncomple ed, ansi ional p ocess
by means o ma e ial, ex ual disa ay, o images o g owing paleness and he e e ence o an
ongoing ac ion in he e y las wo d o he s o y, “ unning”. In sum, o he cha ac e ‟s being,
hen no hing (dea h), he e co esponds he eade ‟s eading, hen blank space benea h on he
inal page o he s o y.
A s iking scene o abjec ion a ec ing he I-na a o ‟s own body closes hus he
na a i e in “a e he ains”, pu ing he accen on he inescapable ac o he p eca iousness
o li e, o being. Galloway‟s ecu en explo a ions o abjec physicali y, I main ain, a e in
une wi h he a emp “ o w i e ealis ically abou wha i eels o be ali e” (B own, 1996), o
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show he agili y o ou li es, o ou e o s o s ay ali e, o keep b ea hing (Ma ch, 1999:
96), opposing he e o e he abs ac endi ion o human exis ence ound in he in ellec ualis
kind o w i ing ha ob ia es he body. K is e a w i es: “A wound wi h blood and pus, o he
sickly, ac id smell o swea , does no signi y dea h. In he p esence o signi ied dea h –a la
encephalog aph, o ins ance– I would unde s and, eac , o accep . No, as in ue hea e,
wi hou makeup o masks, e use and co pses show me wha I pe manen ly h us aside in
o de o li e” (1982: 3). In he ealis ic and less expe imen al long sho s o y “A week wi h
Uncle Felix” (Blood), ele en-yea -old Sco ish gi l Senga, on a isi o his dead a he ‟s
b o he in England, is exposed o he abjec se e al imes in a auma ic con ex o unpleasan
amily sec e s and g owing sexual awa eness. I begins wi h he isi o he bu che ‟s in he
aun ‟s company. They buy some mea he e and when hey each home, we a e old, “she saw
he blood oozing down he a m in a wis ed line and shou ed. The mea was d ipping on he
lino as well. Senga wen ups ai s wi hou wai ing o he ea” (Galloway, 2009: 139). This
disgus ing expe ience o (li e al) ca nali y as mani es ed in he e usal o ea ( he mea ) gi es
way o Senga‟s mo e auma ic con on a ion wi h he abjec in o he wise ha mless na u al
objec s which he ex elabo a es on: namely, plums allen om a plum ee whose imposing,
ull i ali y she admi es and wan s o ake a close look a . Fi s ly, he abjec is expe ienced
by he as an inde inable ac ile imp ession (“She s agge ed backwa ds as he oo slipped on
some hing so ” [Galloway, 2009: 145]), hen as a s ong ol ac o y imp ession (“Wind alls:
ha hick swee smell like me al” [Galloway, 2009: 146]) and inally as isual cum ac ile
con on a ion wi h he ully- o med ui in he p ocess o losing i s de inable con ou s and
o ing in o a g owingly shapeless mass o s u on which an s eed:
She opened he hand and picked up he whole ui ; humb and i s inge ip, end o end,
li ing i nea e . Then i became some hing else. G ey blue ungus u ed one side o a
gash unde nea h, a unning so e oozing b own pulp and some hing else. Some hing
mo ing. Thin black eele s wi ching owa ds he hand. D opping i was immedia e.
E en hen i wasn‟ a enough away and she d ew back om unde he shade o ees,
s a ing, wiping he hands agains he jean seams o ge id o he eel om he inge s.
Black mo emen s licke ed a he co ne s o he eyes, e e ywhe e now she looked. An s.
(Galloway, 2009: 146)
The s o y‟s leng h, i s less expe imen al na u e and he g ea e amoun o de ails and
hemes i con ains make ins ances o abjec ion less uni ied and s iking in he eade ‟s mind.
Howe e , in e ms o he eade ‟s esponse, he o mal and echnical ea u es ha he long
passage jus quo ed exhibi s make i a sha ply e ec i e ins ance o imp essionis “delayed
decoding” (Wa , 1981: 175). In i , a bunch o aw sense imp essions pe cei ed by a
cha ac e a e ende ed di ec ly by he na a o so ha he whole e en acqui es ull meaning
la e on, when some in e p e a i e key is p o ided by he ex (“An s”, in his case). This is a
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way o making he eade ‟s pe cep ion and awa eness o wha happens o and a ound he
cha ac e simul aneous wi h ha o he cha ac e himsel , d awing he eade in o make
him/he eel wha he cha ac e el .
In he passage abo e, eali y loses i s consis ency and h ea ens he subjec ‟s sa e
insc ip ion in i , blu ing he bounda ies ac oss which bodies die o gi e li e o o he bodies
in an incessan p ocess o gene a ion, decay and annihila ion om which no one is sa ed. “A
sudden and massi e eme gence o uncanniness”, K is e a w i es, “which, amilia as i migh
ha e been in an opaque and o go en li e, now ha ies me as adically sepa a e, loa hsome.”
(1982: 2). This (as K is e a calls i a one poin ) “abominable eal” (1982: 9) is a
mani es a ion o he Lacanian Real. The Real unde mines bo h symbolically cons uc ed
eali y and he subjec ‟s egoic imagina y ullness, as when F eud eached a limi in his
ela ion o he d eam o I ma‟s injec ion. As Lacan says in Semina II (Ma ch 9, 1955), F eud
go his pa ien o open he mou h so as o see he h oa : “The e‟s a ho endous disco e y
he e, ha o he lesh one ne e sees, he ounda ion o hings […] some hing which
p o okes anxie y” (1991: 154). When Senga lea es o he home in Sco land in he uncles‟
ca wi h a box o plums nobody had wan ed o ea (Galloway, 2009: 150), he abjec , hough
hidden om iew, makes i sel p esen h ough a s ench ha imp egna es e e y hing. This is
how he s o y closes: “ he s ink o plums began ising om he boo , hickening behind
sealed windows. I wen on ising all he way No h” (Galloway, 2009: 179).
3. GENDER TISSUES
In ano he s o y om Blood, “Lo e in a changing en i onmen ”, he smells and sounds
coming om a bu che ‟s shop uin he lo e li e o a couple ha li es in he la abo e. Thei
imagina ion is assailed by abjec images o “dead issue conges ed wi h blood” and “ aw
muscle lenching om he blade” (Galloway, 2009: 19). These images along wi h he smell
o “pu e ac ion” and “ he so sound o he scalpel” des oyed hei mu ual appeal as solid,
ully- o med lo e objec s: “We los sleep and seldom ouched, suspicious o he scen o
each o he ‟s skin” (Galloway, 2009: 19). They e en ually spli up: “The day hey unloaded
he bone g inde , I packed my bags” (Galloway, 2009: 19). Howe e , in ano he s o y om
he same collec ion, “ hings he said”, i is no he abjec bu language (poli e con e sa ion,
small alk, emp y wo ds) ha wo ks as an obs acle o he sexual in e cou se o a man and a
woman in a wha seems o be a blind da e. The s o y closes wi h a sha p “The hings he did”
(Galloway, 2009: 129). The wo dy de e al o an ac ion is pu o an end and, wi h i , he
na a i e oo, igge ing he eade s‟ e o ic imagina ion o ill in he blank page, ano he
ins ance o how ypog aphical space and ex ual s uc u e elici s a sensual esponse om he
eade .
148 Jo ge Sacido Rome o
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3. Fo an elabo a ion o how he abjec (mo he ) is a adicalised e sion o he semio ic (mo he )
see D. C. Co ino (2004: 21).
4. Bu gess (1996) de ines Galloway‟s sho ic ion as “ e y physical w i ing”. See also Tym
(2013).
5. Two app oaches o Galloway‟s sho ic ion highligh hei poe ic quali y, Paccaud-Hugue
(2004), who concludes ha i “dese es o be called poe ic p ose” (78), and Jackson (2004), o
whom Galloway‟s sho s o ies a e akin o “a poe y o place, whe e ideas and emo ions can only
be app ehended h ough he en i onmen in which hey a e media ed” (7). Paccaud-Hugue also
highligh s he elemen o linguis ic and bodily excess in Galloway‟s w i ing: “The excess o
meaning in human bodies and in language is no longe co e ed bu on he con a y exposed”
(2004: 69).
6. I ha e ound no e e ences o bu che s in he no els: T ick, Fo eign pa s and Cla a (2002).
7. “Food loa hing is pe haps he mos elemen a y and mos a chaic o m o abjec ion” (K is e a,
1982: 2).
8. And ew Hock-Soon Ng (2004) eads Galloway‟s “Blood” as an example o a mons ous ex in
i s “inabili y o ep esen he body” (182). Fu he mo e, hough e e ing o K is e a‟s idea o
mens ua ion as one o he mani es a ions o he abjec , Hock-Soon Ng sugges s ha “Blood”
could be ead as a pa ody o eminis essen ialisms such as K is e a‟s no ions o p elinguis ic
cho a and he semio ic (2004: 185, 207n30).
9. “My conce n o animal wel a e and ecology has always been he e, I guess i ‟s inding i s way
in o he wo k mo e now because hings a e ge ing uglie wi h ega d o lack o human
compassion and ca e o hei ellow c ea u es” (Sacido-Rome o, 2018).
10. Galloway‟s “he d eams o pleasing his mo he ” (Whe e you yind i ) can be also ead as a
nigh ma ish an asy o (p e-)Oedipal a achmen in which he mo he igu es as a “beas ”
(Galloway, 2009: 309 and 310).
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