Otto Gross and D. H. Lawrence : A Study of Erotic Modernism

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Otto Gross (1877-1920) was one of the most gifted early disciples of Sigmund Freud In German speaking avant-garde world, he spread the belief in the revolutionary power of Eros He combined eroticism and Nietzscheanism with political radicalism for the purpose of revolution His eroticism was an aggressive form of protest against the authoritarian tendency in German intellectual life at that time Gross's work and ideas had a significant impact on Expressionism, Dada, and most of all, on Frieda and D. H. Lawrence. Lawrence became acquainted with Gross's and Freud's ideas through Frieda, who fell in love with Gross and was impressed by his vision Frieda released Lawrence from repression and oedipal fixation on his mother as well as from parochial, English restraint Due to Frieda Lawrence came to openly speak of sex in positive terms for the first time in his life Behind this lies the vital influence of Gross eroticism In Sons and Lovers Lawrence comes to grapple with the problems of sexuality and oedipal conflict in the family and in his frustrated relationship with women freudian ideas are recognized throughout the novel, which should be credited to Frieda and Gross. Gross is figured as Eberhard in Mr. Noon which presents the impact of Gross's idea on Frieda and Lawrence We find in the novel the seed of Lawrence's famous ideas of 'sex in the head' and the impersonality of sex The ideas inculcated on Frieda by Gross became life-long credos of Lawrence In the last part of Mr. Noon, Lawrence reveals the amazement of being freed from moral constraints Inspired by Gross, Frieda induced Lawrence to a glimpse of the plenitude and magnificence of Life writ large It was a taste of fulfilled life by sensual consummation It is Nietzschean in its revaluation of all conventional values and sloughing off old morality, in its fight against old moral and spiritual dogmas Frieda's liberating power enabled Lawrence to shatter away the two millennial repression of Christian teachings, and paved the way for an untrammelled consciousness Compared to Gross, Lawrence is less idealist and more conservative, yet both men anticipated the revival of culture and individual life by means of libidinal rejuvenation and break with the repressive legacies of Europe Due to the saving initiative of Gross's eroticism mediated by Frieda, Lawrence found the language and idea for his belief in the power of instinct and eros, and grew increasingly bold in his representation of sexuality Gross's legacy is perceived in most of major achievements of Lawrence They show us his triumphant and confident glorification of Eros. Though not activist, Lawrence's focus was the same as Gross's the transvaluation of all values through an erotically liberated consciousness. Lawrence's eroticism as a form of Lebensphilosophie and an expression of counter-culture project was an extension rather than betrayal of the ideology of Gross