Monstrosity – Illness – Wound Uncanny Interconnections in Deborah Levy’s Hot Milk
Monstrosity – Illness – Wound Uncanny Interconnections in Deborah Levy’s Hot Milk

Summary/Abstract: Sofia Papastergiadis – the protagonist of Deborah Levy’s Hot Milk – seems tobe encircled by various monstrosities. First, her overbearing, monstrous mother suffersfrom an equally monstrous unidentifiable illness, because of which the two women travelto Almería, seeking answers and potential therapy. Second, while in Andalusia, Sofia isoften attacked by Medusae/jellyfish, which is a painful, yet uncannily addictive experience.Third, the protagonist is puzzled with her own doubtful motivations, hasty decisions, anddark fascinations, resurfacing, for instance, in a pursuit of toxic, but sensual, affairs. Allof these drive Sofia to investigate yet another monster: one residing inside her. In thisarticle, I propose a reading informed by psychoanalysis and feminist criticism which aimsat tracing how the discourse of illness interweaves with that of monstrousness in Levy’sBooker-shortlisted bildungsroman. Keeping in mind that disease and monstrosity engagein an interplay of secrecy and revelation in the novel, I wish to study the implications ofthat for the protagonist and her relationships with others.

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