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Unthinkable Fathering: Connecting Incest and Nuclearism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2020

Jane Caputi
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Abstract

The examination of cultural productions with nuclear themes reveals the regular recurrence of the theme of incestuous fatherhood. Connections include a nuclear-father figure, one who threatens dependents while purportedly protecting them; the desecration of the future; the betrayal of trust; insidious long-term effects after initial harm; the shattering of safety; the cult of secrecy, aided by psychological defenses of denial, numbing, and splitting (in both survivor and perpetrator); the violation of life-preservative taboos; and survival.

Type
Research Article
Information
Hypatia , Volume 9 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Feminism and Peace , Spring 1994 , pp. 102 - 122
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 by Hypatia, Inc.

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