The Fiction of Accomplishment

Abstract

No notion mirrors with such symbolic intensity the dialectic between insiders and outsiders as kinship, whether this dialectic be expressed through social or semiotic codes. Indeed, the very notion of kinship presupposes the idea of acceptance and of exclusion from a group; marriage being the ultimate and most genuine proof or test of acceptance within a given group. The fact that the rhetoric of kinship can be so easily extended and used in the sphere of religious or national identity concretely illustrates its efficacy as a metaphor. However, the national imagery only replicates a simple fiction at a larger scale: that of belonging to a group. Moreover, as Marc Shell points out, the assumption that a kinship bond exists is the conditio sine qua non to granting the “other” the status of “human being.”¹ Acceptance and tolerance are important motifs, when not substantial elements of the plot in texts about the family. Indeed, whether real or spiritual, the family is the smallest unit where the test of acceptance can be performed. In other words, it is the answer to the first question of “can the character belong to a particular group?” The hectic drama of so many novels, when the matter concerns the identity of the hero, distinctly emphasizes the importance of the symbolism of belonging.