Abstract
In his article "Theories of Opiate Addiction in the Early Works of Burroughs and Trocchi" Richard English discusses William S. Burroughs's and Alexander Trocchi's representations of opiate addiction with special reference to their early writings. English examines the concept of homo heroin that can be attributed to Burroughs and lists and expounds its qualities. Among these are: immorality, criminality, mono-objectuality, self- and other-indifference, and, most importantly, the radical physical transformation into a new species, which Burroughs extends in Naked Lunch. English shows how homo heroin relates to Trocchi's conception of a heroin addict, which serves to illustrate that homo heroin is not simply a neologism for 'junkie'. English also argues that Burroughs's radical depiction stretches beyond that of Trocchi and other writers of opiate fiction in virtue of Burroughs's metaphysical claim about species change.
Recommended Citation
English, Richard.
"Theories of Opiate Addiction in the Early Works of Burroughs and Trocchi."
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
18.5
(2016):
<https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.2931>
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