Sex and desire. Few words evoke such complexity of meaning. For some, it is a sexual act. While one might describe it as the sensual pleasure of two bodies fused into one being, another might define it as the fulfillment of an animal desire, a unleashing of the beast. But, beyond an act loaded with various meanings, it can also serve as an identity – heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or transsexual. Whether it is an act or an identity, societal diktats define the norm and the deviant. For this reason, the artist who departs from what is “acceptable” and embraces what is “aberrant” awakens awareness of self and society. In doing so, sex and desire become a vehicle, a means of communication between artist and audience, and an object that demands our attention. Whether it is the subtle and sensual language of Anaïs Nin in Le Journal d'Anaïs Nin (1966), the crude and explicit vocabulary of Henry Miller in Tropic of Cancer (1934), or the poetic and surrealist by Djuna Barnes in Nightwood (1934). ), sex and desire, as a vehicle in these authors' literature, exposes the chaos and confusion within their world and suggests the establishment of a new order for self and/or society. Written between 1931 and 1934, Le Journal d'Anaïs Nin tells the psychological journey of an artist. Abandoned by her father when she was little, Anaïs experiences a “first shock” which leaves her “like a broken mirror” (Nin 103). The shards of glass, each developing their own lives, become Anaïs’ “several selves” (103). Through the pages of the Journal, reflecting and dissecting these different selves, she concludes: “there is no need to remain a slave to the first wax print left on the sensibilities of childhood. It is not necessary to be marked by the first... middle of paper ... the objective was briefly to present a resurrection of emotions, to depict the conduct of a human being in the stratosphere of ideas, who is, prey to delirium. (243). As an artist, his task has been to "overthrow existing values, to make the chaos around him an order of its own, to sow discord and ferment so that, through emotional liberation, those who are dead can be resurrected” (253). Although some might disagree with his methods, his language and vivid imagery not only raise awareness, but they also provide a much-needed dose of humor in modernist literature. Works Cited Barnes, Djuna. Night woods. New York: New Directions Books, 2006. Print. Miller, Henry. Tropic of Cancer. New York: Grove Press, 1961. Print. Nin, Anaïs. The Journal of Anaïs Nin: Volume One 1931-1934. San Diego: Swallow Press and Harcourt, 1966. Print.