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Cemented Shadows: Familial Collapse and Psychosexual Trauma in Ian McEwan’s The Cement Garden—A Lacanian-Butlerian Critique



Author(s)

CHENG Zijun, AN Zhujun

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DOI:10.17265/1539-8080/2025.11.008

University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China

The present paper examines Ian McEwan’s The Cement Garden from the perspective of modern Gothic studies, focusing on its critique of post-war British society and its exploration of taboo themes. The novel’s decaying suburban setting and Jack’s unreliable narration work together to foreground psychological and domestic dysfunction. Drawing on psychoanalytic theories, including Lacan’s “mirror stage” and Butler’s gender performativity, this paper analyzes the erosion of paternal authority and the fluidity of identity in the absence of parental guidance. In addition, the novel’s thematic resonance is shown to extend beyond its British context, functioning as a global cautionary tale in contemporary societies marked by migrant labor displacement and the growing prevalence of left-behind children.

Ian McEwan, The Cement Garden, migrant labor displacement, parental absence

CHENG Zijun & AN Zhujun, Cemented Shadows: Familial Collapse and Psychosexual Trauma in Ian McEwan’s The Cement Garden—A Lacanian-Butlerian Critique. US-China Foreign Language, November 2025, Vol. 23, No. 11, 429-432 doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2025.11.008