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Collective unconscious sexual connotations of nuclear submarines?


Time for a Remedial Global Nuclear War? (Part #13)

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Phallic associations: As noted above with respect to Dr. Strangelove (Dr. Strangelove: An Analysis, Teen Ink, 12 January 2014), it is not surprising to discover references to the sexual connotations of rockets and missiles, as phallic symbols par excellence (Andrew Naughtie, Jeff Bezos' phallic rocket deserves all the ridicule it gets, The Independent, 20 July 2021; Sophie Mellor, Jeff Bezos's historic rocket trip created one giant meme trail on Earth, Fortune, 21 July 2021; Phallic Weapon, TV Tropes).

The phallic association notably extends to submarines:

. This is especially the case of those with a nuclear payload, although the focus is primarily on the individual submariner:

Problematic relationship to women: The complex associations can be explored from an interdisciplinary perspective, recognizing that submarines are traditionally an environment for men -- from which women and sexual relationships have supposedly been systematically excluded:

Curiously the dynamics between nuclear submarines of opposing parties (and their personnel) are now celebrated imaginatively as central themes in major submarine movies. The extensive list of over 150 submarine-themed films provided by Wikipedia (culled from a variety of databases) distinguishes those of World War II and earlier, from those of the Cold War and after, noting those of a "future or fantastic past". Why have these proven to be so enthralling? Recognizing that their cultivation as entertainment is part of the "grooming" process noted above, potentially relevant commentary includes:

Unconscious implications? Although reference may be made to phallic connotations, as noted above, far less evident are their implications -- on which psychoanalysts such as Sigmund Freud might have focused. Freud's framing of the unconscious mind is typically illustrated with an iceberg showing the ID as a "submarine" zone below the surface. With respect to warfare, it is appropriate to recall that the views of Freud were solicited by Albert Einstein (David Byron, What Freud and Einstein tell us about war, Polemology, 1 April 2017). This was consistent with Einstein's concerns evoked with Bertrand Russell (The Russell-Einstein Manifesto, 9 July 1955).

Missing is therefore the potential relevance of "penis envy" as it might play out in "missile envy" and the construction of ever larger nuclear submarines (Aaron Johnson, Missile Envy: Nuclear War and Man's Theology, Medium, 4 February 2018).

Further insights might usefully derive from castration anxiety, erectile dysfunction, "impotence", and "shooting blanks". (Andreja Zevnik and Moran Mandelbaum, Psychoanalysis in Global Politics and International Relations, 2021; Robert Schuett, Political Realism, Freud, and Human Nature in International Relations: the resurrection of the Realist Man, 2010; Kurt Jacobsen, Why Freud Matters: psychoanalysis and international relations revisited, International Relations, 27, 2013, 4).

Given the manner in which superpower hegemony (as a form of neo-colonialism) is understood to be ensured by a fleet of nuclear submarines, insights into colonialism from a psychoanalytical perspective are also of potential relevance (Sally Swartz, Psychoanalysis and Colonialism: a contemporary introduction, 2023). More generally, the unconscious dimension may well be seen as fundamental to other strategic responses (Problematic Sexual Paradoxes of Pandemic Response, 2021). This considered issues of denial and unconscious cover-up in the light of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein.

Implications from submarine films: It is however the study by Proudfoot and Kingsbury (2014) which seemingly offers the articulation of greatest relevance to this argument -- in the light of the later insights of Jacques Lacan rather than of the earlier insights of Freud. They introduce their argument as follows:

The question of the Other's desire is central to submarine films. Whether in the confrontation between two captains in U-571, a submarine and a destroyer in The Enemy Below, or a captain and a CIA analyst in The Hunt for Red October, an uncanny number of submarine films stage the same scenario: a dyad of male protagonists attempting to locate the desire of the Other through the opaque signifiers of sonar pings, radio silence, screw propellers, depth charges, and strategic maneuvers. Aided by their well-disciplined all-male crews, submarine captains sound the depths behind these submerged signifiers, searching for their signifieds...

That argment continues:

When one watches films set on submarines, it quickly becomes apparent that they share a set of genre conventions in the same way as the Western or horror film. Just as the Western would be incomplete without the "showdown" and the horror film incomplete without the protagonists "splitting up" in order to find the killer, the submarine film is almost unthinkable without the sub diving below "hull crush depth" or submariners listening anxiously to the sound of depth charges detonating overhead. Following the tenets of genre theory..., we elaborate a series of recurring conventions in submarine films that stage masculine sexuation, including the obsession with the military chain of command as a fetishization of the symbolic order, the tyrannical figure of the submarine captain, and the Oedipal structure of the relationship between the captain, executive officer ("XO") and crew. Our argument is that these seemingly hackneyed clichés perform an ideological function within the genre and illuminate key elements of Lacan's theory of masculine sexuation.

The context is of course the ocean depths of the world, appropriately recalling the complementary psychoanalytical insights of Carl Jung regarding the collective unconscious with which water is so strongly associated (Stephen Farah, Mysterium Oceanus, Center of Applied Jungian Studies, 2022; Carl Jung, Water is the commonest symbol for the unconscious, Carl Jung Depth Psychology, 20 April 2020; Concept of Collective Unconscious, Carl Jung Resources; Susan Schumacher Voss, Underlying Patterns in International Relations: the role of the unconscious in cooperation and conflict, Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2016; Brent J. Steele, Restraint in International Politics, 2019).

Submarines may then be understood as vehicles through which collections of males symbolically navigate the depths of the unconscious in quest of a challenging Other. The submarines can be recognized as symbolic penises in their own right, or as armed with multiple penises (a male fantasy) in the case of ballistic missile submarines. The missiles are capable of striking targets thousands of kilometres around the globe -- a form of planetary impalement with which use of the stake metaphor is curiously associated (Planetary Impalement by Stakeholder Capitalism? 2023).

Of relevance to any psychoanlalytical perspective is the strange association of submarines with death -- as "coffins", literally and metaphorically understood (James Wharton, U Boats: 'Grey Coffins' That Shaped Two World Wars And Forged The Era Of The Submarine, Forces.net, 26 August 2020; Ali Kefford, World War 2's deadliest mission saw fearless heroes accept death in steel coffins, Daily Mirror, 12 November 2021; Kyle Mizokami, Why China's First Nuclear Submarines Were Underwater Coffins, The National Interest, 5 March 2021; James Holmes, Underwater Coffins: These 5 Submarines Quite Simply Are the Worst Ever, The National Interest, 24 April 2019; Mark Episkopos, Underwater Coffins: 5 Worst Submarines from Russia, The National Interest, 12 November 2021; ).

More curious is the unconscious impact during World War II of  "U-boats",  and through films thereafter -- given their potential recognition in English as "You-boats". Ironically, Youboat is now the largest website for power boats, sailing boats, rigid or semi-rigid hulled inflatables.

Variants of the pattern: As vehicles the pattern has been expressed otherwise in the case of the worm riders on sandworms on the world of Arrakis in the renowned science fiction of Frank Herbert (Dune, 1965; with sequels and movie) -- acclaimed as the best such novel. Â The implications for consciousness feature in the production of "spice" on Arrakis, understood as enhancing the multidimensional mental abilities necessary for space navigation.

Ironically the various competing schools of psychoanalysis merit recognition as "submarines" in their own right -- "collective cognitive vehicles" navigating the unconscious (or calling its existence into question) in an effort to explicate meaningful engagement with an Other. Complementing the symbolic significance of the penis, contrasting importance is associated with the vagina and the Oedipus complex. There is clearly a case for exploring the global symbolic implications of multiple (tiny) penises desperately navigating a vast, but singular, ocean on a quest for an Other or for their Mother (from Lacanian and Freudian perspectives respectively). Is there a cognitive "hole" at the heart of "glObal" -- one calling for greater comprehension, as argued by Ilan Kapoor (Psychoanalysis and the GlObal, University of Nebraska Press, 2018)?

AUKUS? Considerable strategic importance is controversially associated at the time of writing with the trilateral AUKUS security agreement for the construction of nuclear submarines. The controversy is most vigorously expressed by a former Prime Minister of Australia (Paul Keating labels Aukus submarine pact 'worst deal in all history', The Guardian, 15 March 2023; Paul Keating savages AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, ABC News, 15 March 2023). Their implication as "coffins" is already evoked (Roger Bradbury, et al, "Billion-dollar coffins": detection tech to render AUKUS submarines useless, Pearls and Irritations, 19 March 2023)

From a psychoanalytical perspective, what is to be understood by the acquisition of numerous cruise missiles (Australia plans to buy 220 cruise missiles from America, The Canberra Times, 17 March 2023)? Given any aspiration of psychoanalysis to facilitate "global healing", could the immediate use of such missiles facilitate a form of "shock therapy" consistent with recognition of the need for remedial global nuclear war?

Safety and security are the main arguments for Australian acquisition of nuclear submarines via AUKUS. Response to these issues merits comparison with mandatory helmet wearing in bicycle riding. Curiously Australia is one of only four countries of the world where this is mandatory; these do not include its UK and US partners in AUKUS (see Bicycle helmet laws by country). The matter is controversial, but is this a case of unthinking safety overreach and risk aversion peculiar to Australian society -- despite its cultivated reputation for dangerous crocodiles, snakes, spiders and scorpions?

Given the relevance of genital symbolism to comprehension of the role of ballistic missile submarines, the military-industrial (and entertainment) complexes, and nuclear warfare, "AUKUS" invites decoding, perhaps as: Arsenalism Unifying Knowledge of Unconscious Symbolism. This follows from related speculation (Mysterious Complementarity between Capitalism and Arsenalism, 2020; The Coalition of the Willy: musings on the global challenge of penile servitude, 2004).

Also inviting speculation is the triadic form of the AUKUS agreement as an extension of the strategic nuclear triad. This is a three-pronged military force structure that consists of land-launched nuclear missiles, nuclear-missile-armed submarines, and strategic aircraft with nuclear bombs and missiles. More intriguing is a possible conformality to the Freudian, Lacanian and Jungian triad. Potentially relevant is the complex study by Freud (The Theme of the Three Caskets, Encyclopedia, 1913)

From  "unclear", via "nuclear" and "nu-clear", to "all clear"? In seeking an engaging presentation of the demise of civilization, the potential of playful or humorous possibilities should not be neglected (Humour and International Challenges, 1998; Humour and Play-Fullness, 2005).

A point of departure is an irritation voiced by physics, as the discipline most closely associated with the development of nuclear weaponry. It is focused on the distorted pronunciation of "nuclear" as "nuc-u-lar" by leading politicians in the USA (What is the most important piece of knowledge that practitioners of nuclear physics wish to convey to the general public? Kent University). That concern is echoed from other perspectives (Jessica E. Slavin, "Nucular" and "Nuclear" and So-Called Standard English, Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog, 5 October 2008).

It is therefore surprising to discover the number of web references associating "nuclear" with "nu-clear", given "nu" as a common alternative to "new" in marketing presentations. Especially surprising is the range of music sites and resources associated with "nu-clear" and its variants. Also surprising is its use for a thread cutting oil by which screwing is enabled -- especially given other uses of those terms in a web environment.

Given the remedial potential of nuclear war as argued above, any further adaptation for mnemonic purposes to "new-clear" could trace the transformation from "unclear" to "all clear". The latter is the signal indicating that an air raid or other hazard has ended and that it is safe for civilians to leave their bunkers. As might be imagined, "new clear" has already been appropriately employed (Reta-Faye Walker, The New-Clear Family: solutions for 21st Century families) -- in response to a decades-long challenge (Daniel O Keeffe, The New, Clear, Family, Galactic Literature, 4 November 2020). That reframing would bode well for any "family of nations" in the aftermath of a remedial nuclear war (Morten Skumsrud Andersen, The Family of Nations, Kinship in International Relations, 2018).

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