Chapter 23

Psychoanalytic Theory

Background

Sigmund Freuds (1856-1939) writings on the unconscious mind were a defining moment for art and literature. The Interpretation of Dreams (1899) dealt with s!chological com le"it!# and the ideas of the fragmentation of the self. $n %&ream 'or() the author descri*es how %dream content) or images of dream are in realit! the codes of %latent dream content) or %dream thoughts.) Freud uses the terms %condensation) and %dis lacement# ) where the former is the rocess where dream-content contains multi le associations# the latter suggests the shift where the real su*+ect of a narrati,e is outside the stor!. Freuds most contro,ersial conce t# the -edi us com le"# is the notion that e,er! child se"uall! desires a arent and wishes to *e rid of its ri,al# the other arent. $m licit in this is the theor! of art and literature. Freud used the well-(nown e"am le of Hamlet # who so swift in (illing .olonius and /osencrant0 and 1uildenstern# is hesitant to (ill 2laudius. Freuds e" lanation is that unconsciousl! 3amlet too had desired his fathers death# and while stri(ing at 2laudius# he would *e stri(ing himself. $n his Three Essays on Sexuality (1945) Freud osits that human se"ualit!---unli(e animal se"ualit!---is not *iologicall! re- rogrammed. 5lthough from *irth e,er! human *eing is inha*ited *! se"ual energ! (li*ido) # the modes of satisfaction found are not re-determined. $nstead# the goals of se"ual desire are determined *! each ersons indi,idual histor!. $n The Future of an Illusion (1967)# Freud argues that *elief in 1od is a neurotic wish fulfillment. 8elief in 1od stems from our collecti,e need for a lifelong arental authorit! (who can assure our safet! and securit!) # and is a neurosis arising from the -edi al 2om le".

Freudian Criticism

5(in to Sigmund Freuds contri*ution towards literar! criticism# such as his remar(s on the -edi al scheme in Hamlet (1899)# his theoretical essa! %2reati,e 'riters and &a!-dreaming (1948)# and his s!cho*iogra hical essa! %&ostoe,s(! and .arricide) (1968)# se,eral of

Freuds contem oraries as well as later writers

roduced studies of literar! figures and

literar! wor(s that esta*lished models of s!choanal!tic criticism. Such wor(s assumed interconnecti,it! *etween the fictional roduct and the creati,e artist# in other words# read s!choanal!ticall!# the literar! wor( disclosed the authors unconscious fantasies. 9he aim of this criticism was essentiall! s!cho*iogra hical. 9he most o ular e"am les of this st!le of criticism de lo! the tools of meta hor# and character. s!choanal!sis to e" lore the recise terms of language#

Earnest Jones (18 !" 1!#8$ :ones was the author of almost 644 essa!s in theor! and a lied s!choanal!sis# including articles on dreams# literature# religion# war neuroses# female se"ualit!# $reland# chess# ice-s(ating# and the common cold. 3e was instrumental in introducing Freud to the ;nglish-s ea(ing world and resided o,er the origins of the 8ritish s!choanal!tic esta*lishment. 3e was the author of the first *iogra h! of Freud (1957)# the *est account until later *iogra hies were roduced *! /onald '. 2lar( (1984) and .eter 1a! (1988). :oness monogra h On the Nightmare (1914) demonstrates an effort to a l! s!choanal!tic ers ecti,es to histor! and legend# s(etching anal!ses of

witches# ,am ires# &ruids# and s eculati,e et!molog!. 'hereas Freud used the e"am le of 3amlet to su ort the -edi us com le" (3amlet cannot

unish 2laudius *ecause he has carried out the atricide 3amlet wished)# :ones im licitl! e"tends the s!choanal!tic reading into a clinical anal!sis of dee am*i,alence reading into a clinical anal!sis of dee am*i,alence toward the mother.

%tto &ank (188'" 1!3!$ /an( was one of Freuds *rightest disci les. 3e e,entuall! left o,er-theoretical and e"cessi,e castration as the originar! model of ersonal de ri,ation. 5uthor of an essa! entitled %9he 5rtist#) which he resented to Freud in 1945# /an( maintained his interest in art throughout his life. The Myth of the Birth of the Hero (1949) is a scholarl! wor( which *rings together core motifs in cultural m!ths# including the hero# the dou*le# and the theme of the ser,ice of grounding the -edi us com le" for s!choanal!sis# although he e,entuall! disru ted this ground with his ideas a*out *irth trauma and re--edi al se aration an"iet!. /an(s essa! on the Doppleganger (191<) uses literar! e"am les from F!odor &osto,es(!# /o*ert =ouis Ste,enson# -scar 'ilde# 1u! de >au assant# and ;dgar 5llan .oe# com*ining *rief *iogra hical s(etches with theoretical em hasis on narcissism and ro+ection. 5ccording to /an(# the dou*le is *oth a reflection of self-lo,e and a ri,al. 3is massi,e wor( on the incestmotif# Das Inzest-Moti in Di!htung un" Sage (1916) is a *road sur,e! of -edi al d!namics in ;uro ean and world literature and m!tholog!. (arie Bonaparte (1886- 1966) 5n earl! wor( on Freudian anal!sis was *! .rincess >arie 8ona arte. 5 great-grandniece of ?a oleon 8ona arte# the .rincess was lagued *! her own se"ual frigidit! and u*lished a ers on this su*+ect in medical +ournals. She gallantl! hel ed Freud and his famil! esca e the ?a0is in 1938# and wrote an immense stud! of ;dgar 5llan .oe (1933). Freud wrote a *rief and highl! literar! reface to the wor(. 8ona arte relied hea,il! on Freuds theoretical relation of the oet to the dreamer (%2reati,e 'riters and &a!-dreaming#) 1948) and relied on the relationshi *etween literature and unconscious wishes and fears# roducing

s!chose"ual allegories. 3ers is a

rimar!- rocess criticism that see(s to +ettison

con,entional forms of literar! re resentation in fa,our of translations to unconscious origins. She ,iews .oe as a writer who con,erted ersonal trauma into fiction# rinci all! the death of his mother when he was two !ears of age (conce t deri,ed from Freuds famous %8e!ond the .leasure .rinci le)# 1964). .oes literar! am*ition was to resurrect a li,ing *ond to a dead woman# an idea thrilling for some and terrif!ing to man!. 8ona arte was es eciall! attenti,e to characters# creatures# landsca es# and architecture as s lit or o,erdetermined re resentations of o*sessi,e figures and themes. 3er *oo( is an e"tensi,e ela*oration of Freuds dreamwor( re lete with dis lacement# s!m*olism# and so on. 8ona artes .oe is a athological genius haunted *! o*sessi,e fantasies he could not com rehend *ut had to li,e with. >ore recent s!choanal!tic a roaches to the m!ster! of .oe# are &aniel 3offmans #oe #oe #oe #oe #oe #oe #oe (1976) and =acans %Seminar on the .urloined =etter) (1976). 9his st!le of s!cho*iogra h! achie,ed more intensit! and currenc! in wor(s *! .h!llis 1reenacre on :onathan Swift and =ewis 2aroll@ and *! =eon ;del on 3enr! :ames. Frederick Cre)s (1938) 5long with 3arold 8loom and ?orman 3olland# 2rews was moti,ated *! much of the s!choanal!tic criticism ractised in 5merica since the mid-1964s. 3is seminal *oo( on ?athaniel 3awthorne (1966) ositions the writer of The S!arlet $etter *e!ond con,entional moralistic allegor! and illustrates the dar( landsca e of se"ual am*i,alence that colors his fiction. 3awthornes fascination with .uritans and the cultural histor! of guilt reflects his own unconscious im ulses# which tend rimaril! to *e -edi al . $n %Aoung 1oodman

8rown#) the rotgonist flees his wifes arms into a demonic forest full of se"ual s!m*ols and *arel! disgusted rimal-scene fantasies# a lace that reflects his own incestuous desires and guilt. 2rews wor( in,ol,es anal!ses of meta hor# image# and character# ressed toward s!cho-*iogra hical conclusions a*out 3awthornes %incom lete resolution of earl! -edi al feelings.)

8eginning in the mid-1974s# 2rews de,elo ed a dissatisfaction with s!choanal!sis. he re+ected the claims of s!choanal!sis to scientific or inter reti,e ,alidit!# and e" lained 3awthornes se"ual fascinations# *! locating him in the %eitgeist # that is# the s!chological atmos here of /omanticism.) Jac*ues +acan (1!,1"81$ =acan was res onsi*le for the formation of E!ole Freu"ienne "e #aris in 196<# which he also caused to dis*and. 3is lectures were u*lished as The Four Fun"amental &on!epts of

#sy!hoanalysis (1977). Be! conce ts in =acan are % hallocentric)# %mirror stage) and the %S!m*olic.) 8asicall! =acans wor( is a de,elo ment of Freuds theor! which states that there is a radical s lit *etween consciousness and the unconscious (the ego and the id). Freuds argues that most of us are often moti,ated *! im ulses and forces that we are not e,en aware of. =acan identifies three main hases in the de,elo ment of the childC the /eal# the $maginar! and the S!m*olic. 3e draws on Freuds theor! of the -edi us com le"# where the infant asses through the seduction# rimal and castration hases. 9he %mirror stage) osits that when a child sees its reflection in the mirror# and then loo(s *ac( at another erson (mother) and then again at the mirror# it redicts that one da! it will *ecome whole# com lete# unified again# li(e the image in the mirror# which *ecomes an ideal. 9he idea of the self# according to =acan# is alwa!s a ,ision# a fantas! of wholeness@ therefore he refers to this stage as the %imaginar!.) =acan then discusses the childs entr! into language as a su*+ect that coincides with its se aration from the mother. 9he mother therefore *ecomes the childs first e" erience of lac( (a*sence) which leads to the creation of desire. 9he father ste s in at this moment and further causes loss of union with the mother# reci itating the s!m*olic order. =acan often refers to this stage as %the ?ame of the Father) # suggesting 1od-

li(e authorit! as well as rohi*ition. 9he stage is now set for the conce t of the hallus. =acan em hasi0es on the im ortance of the term % hallus) as enis (which the mother lac(s)

has a s!m*olic significance. 9he s!m*olic order is ,ital for what it signifies# which is the se"ual difference. 3owe,er# for =acan# the hallus comes to signif! *oth mens and womens lac(. 9he father ma! *e identified with the s!m*olic# *ut he too has *een a child# and had felt inadeDuate and incom lete. ?o one thus ossesses the hallus# leading us to the notion of %castration.) 5nother necessar! conce t in =acans osition is the %-ther). 'hen the child *ecomes aware that it is se arate from the world# the idea of the %-ther) is created. 9his is accom anied *! a sense of an"iet! and loss. =acans theories ha,e had a rofound effect on gender studies as well as erformance studies# mainl! *ecause of his ideas on the %mirror stage.) =aura >ul,e!# for e"am le# in %Eisual .leasure and ?arrati,e 2inema) (1975)# uses the conce t as a heuristic for e"amining the gender olitics in the wa! s ecatorshi is constructed traditionall!.

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1. 1ns)er in 2rie34

i. 'hat is the *asic remise in the wor(s of Frederic( 2rews on 3awthorneF ii. 'hat is >arie 8ona artes contri*ution to s!choanal!tic criticism. iii. 8riefl! outline -to /an(s conce t of the &o 6. Fill in the 2lanks4 i. Freuds theoretical relation of the oet to the dreamer are contained in his GGG.. leganger.

ii. -tto /an(s GGGGGGGis a scholarl! wor( which *rings together core motifs in cultural m!ths# including the hero# the dou*le iii. :oness monogra h GGGG..is an effort to a l! s!choanal!tic ers ecti,es to histor! and legend# a art from anal!ses of witches# ,am ires# &ruids# and s eculati,e et!molog!. 1ns)er key 6. i.2reati,e 'riters and &a!-dreaming@ ii- The Myth of the Birth of the Hero @ iii- On the Nightmare 5elected )e2sites4

htt CHHen.wi(i edia.orgHwi(iHSigmundIFreud htt sCHHsites.google.comHsiteHucoan"iet!Hsigmund-freud- s!choanal!tic-theor! htt CHHwe*s ace.shi .eduHcg*oerHran(.html