images of bliss !"#$%&'()%#*+)*+#,*'--.%-)/+%0-'*1% ! Images of Bliss ejaculation masculinity meaning Murat Aydemir { University ofMinnesota Press Minneapolis•London Every effort has been made to obtain permission to reproduce the illustrations in this book. If any proper acknowledgment has not been made, we encourage the copyright holder to notify the publisher. Copyright 2007 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota Produced by Wilsted & Taylor Publishing Services Copy editing by Nancy Evans Design and composition by YvonneTsang All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by the University of Minnesota Press 111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290 Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520 http://www.upress.umn.edu library of congress cataloging-in-publication data Aydemir, Murat. Images of bliss : ejaculation, masculinity, meaning / Murat Aydemir. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-0-8166-4866-5 (hc : alk. paper) isbn-13: 978-0-8166-4867-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Generative organs, Male—Philosophy. 2. Human reproduction—Philosophy. 3. Ejaculation—Philosophy. 4. Penis—Philosophy. 5. Masculinity—Philosophy. I. Title. QP255.A93 2007 612.6´1—dc22 2006017450 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer. 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 “the human stain,” she said, and without revulsion or contempt or condemnation. Not even with sadness. That’s how it is—in her own dry way, that is all Faunia was telling the girl feeding the snake: we leave a stain, we leave a trail, we leave our imprint. Impurity, cruelty, abuse, error, excrement, semen—there’s no other way to be here. Nothing to do with disobedience. Nothing to do with grace or salvation or redemption. It’s in everyone. Indwelling. Inherent. Defining. The stain that is there before its mark. Without the sign it is there. The stain so intrinsic it doesn’t require a mark. That stain that precedes disobedience, that encompasses disobedience and perplexes all explanation and understanding. It’s why all the cleansing is a joke. A barbaric joke at that. The fantasy of purity is appalling. It’s insane. What is the quest to purify, if not more impurity? Philip Roth,The Human Stain, 2001 !"#$%&'()%#*+)*+#,*'--.%-)/+%0-'*1% contents Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii part one history, art 1. Semen, Blood, Stars, and Ice: Serrano and Aristotle 3 Blood 4 •Squigglies and Claret 7•“As it were a deformed male” 9• Why Semen Matters More 11•The Illustrated Aristotle, Part I 14•Stars 16• Inconceivable 17 •Soiled White: Bataille 20•Graphic White: Derrida 22• Baroque White: Bal 25•The Illustrated Aristotle, Part II 25•Ice 27• The Illustrated Aristotle, Part III 29 part two psychoanalysis 2. Image of the Vital Flow: Lacan 33 Noeud/Nous 35•The Name of the Phallus 36•The Story’s Setup 39• Graphic Concatenation: When Phallus Meets Signifiable 41•Bastard Offspring 44•The Magician and the Veil 46•Shame as Awkward Self-Reflexivity 49 3.Anamorphosis / Metamorphosis: Ambassadors 52 Delicious Game 53•Cool Men 56•Twin Ambassadors 62•Spot the Differences: Embarrassing Embrasse 64•Man in Black: Melancholia and Empire 66 4. The Parting Veil: Angel in the Flesh 70 The Specter Haunting Male Morphology 73•Othering the Body: A Comedy 76• The Deictic Veil and the Phallus/Penis 79• Every Temptation 82•Smile and Breast: Double-Crossing Gender 84 part three pornography 5.Significant Discharge: The Cum Shot and Narrativity 93 Introducing the Cum Shot 95•Justine: “I can’t believe you just came” 97• The Climax ofInvoluntary Spasm 102•“I was not finished” 107• Return and Repetition 109 6.Levering Ejaculation 113 Porn as Opera or Musical 115•Va(s)cillation 117•Abjection 121•Staining the Image 123•Hand 127•“Lass es gehen” 130•Coda: Female Ejaculation 134 7.“Now Take One of Me As I Come”: Pornographic Realities 135 Hard Core 138•Mundane Details: Reality-Effect 141•Sexual Theatrics 144• The Meaning of Moustaches: Verisimilitude 149•Bazzo’s Escape 151 part four theory 8. The Suspense and Suspension of Bliss: Barthes 159 Connoisseur 161•Taking One’s Pleasure 165•Being Taken by Bliss 168• The Certain Body 170•From Suspense to Suspension: Tumbling or Freezing Narrative 172•Upstaging the Father 176•Wandering Seeds 180 9. Dissimulating the Supreme Spasm: Derrida 183 Trance 184•Lucky Word 186• Masculinity: Desire and Hysteria 188• Supreme Spasm 195•Semen as Pharmakon 200•Singular Plural 204• The Sperm’s Tail as Supplement 206•Closing Opening 208 10. Anxiety and Intimacy of Expenditure: Bataille 211 Hostile Expenditures between Men 217•Globular Droplets 221• Male Guinea Pigs 225•Intimacy ofExpenditure 228•The Eye of the Story 233•Draining Masculinity 237•Concepts ofEjaculation 243 part five literature 11. Misplaced Thigh: Proust 249 Beginnings 249•Adam’s Rib 252•Jupiter’s Thigh 254•From Wet Dream to Bad Dream 255 12. Gossamer Thread 258 “Gosh, gosh, gosh, gosh!” 259•Natural Trail 262•Solitary Pleasure 265• Gaze 268 •The Lilac 271 •Silvery Trace 273 13. A Few Drops That Express All 277 Adolphe 279•Norpois 281•Men in Cubicles 283•Behind the Curtain with Swann 287•Re-searching Masculinity 288 Epilogue: Forcing the Issue 290 Color 291•Scale 292•Plane 293•Temporality 294•Part/Whole 295• Opposition/Entanglement 295•Conception/Inconceivable 296• Imminent/Immanent 297•Graphic 297 Notes 299 Bibliography 321 Index 329