Trauma and Psyche in Invisible Man and the Time Regulation Institute: A Lacanian Psychoanalytical Approach

This study carefully examines Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952) and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar’s The Time Regulation Institute (1961), while applying Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory on identity formation as a theoretical framework. Besides their publication in a similar timeframe, both literary works delve into various themes that eventually focus on the deep trauma experienced by individuals at the time. Ellison's master work explores the racial discrimination that prevailed American society, while Tanpinar's work underscores the difficult challenges surrounding Turkish people in the middle of the turbulent years of modernization period. By applying Lacan’s concepts of the Imaginary and Symbolic orders, this analysis helps to interpret how the protagonists manage to go through instances where they face intense psychological discomfort, estrangement from societal expectations and norms, and disillusionment stemming from significant losses. More specifically, the study analyzes how trauma, consciousness, psyche and loss are portrayed and altered in different states, while shedding light on their immense influence on the characters' sense of alienation and disillusionment, discussed within the theoretical framework of Lacanian psychoanalytic theory. Through this interdisciplinary discussion, this study’s aim is to provide a wider comprehension of the complex structures of identity, trauma, and alienation portrayed in presented literature, offering acumen into the human nature within modern society.