Representation of Lack in Kurdish Short Story: A Psychoanalytical Reading of Works by Sherzad Hassan, Ata Nahaie, and Mohamad Ramazani

Addressing the constitutive lack of the subject’s identity and analyzing its effects on subjectivity provide an illuminating account of the subject’s unconscious and demonstrate the desire and shortcomings in the subject’s identity. The present study attempts to explore three Kurdish short stories in terms of Lacanian psychoanalytical approach while highlighting the lacks in these works according to the situation, life, mentality, and background of the Kurdish subject. These works include Sherzad Hassan’s “Lausanne”, “I … Love … You” by Ata Nahaei, and “Glasses and Hearing Aids” by Mohammad Ramezani. These short stories attempt to represent three different types of lack that constitute Kurdish subjectivity; they include the lack of national identity, free love, and modern mentality. The lack in the characters’ unconscious mind has resulted in disorder and imbalance, mostly represented in language.