Abstract: The novel, while historically understood as a tool for cultivating empathy through narrative dislocation, reinforces conceptions of proper subjectivity central to Enlightenment thought. Drawing on Denise Ferreira da Silva's theorization of the "transparent 'I,'" this article explores how the novels Open City and The Other Name disrupt the transparent subject through their portrayals of madness and trauma. Through this depiction, these novels challenge the limitations of empathetic engagement and offer a site to deconstruct modern subjectivity, envisioning opaque alternatives to the transparent, rational self.
Gabriel Matthews (2025) studied this question.