PSYCHOANALYTIC LITERARY CRITICISM Sources What is Psychological Criticism

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PSYCHOANALYTIC LITERARY CRITICISM Sources: “What is Psychological Criticism, ” http: //www. usask. ca/english/frank/psycrit. htm

PSYCHOANALYTIC LITERARY CRITICISM Sources: “What is Psychological Criticism, ” http: //www. usask. ca/english/frank/psycrit. htm Moon, B. (1995) Studying Literature, Chalkface Press, Scarborough WA http: //www. sou. edu/English/Hedges/Sodashop. RCenter/Theory/Peop le/lacankey. htm PP created by E. A. Venz

Psychoanalytic Criticism • Psychoanalytic Criticism sees literary texts as representing the unconscious thoughts and

Psychoanalytic Criticism • Psychoanalytic Criticism sees literary texts as representing the unconscious thoughts and desires shared by members of a culture. It is a method of textual analysis which explores the relationship between cultural processes and the construction of personal identity. (Moon 1995: 97) • Moon, B. (1995) Studying Literature, Chalkface Press, Scarborough WA

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud

Freud • Freud is considered to be the ‘father’ of psychoanalysis • Freud’s most

Freud • Freud is considered to be the ‘father’ of psychoanalysis • Freud’s most important contribution to the study of the human psyche is his ‘theory of repression’ – much of what lies in the unconscious mind has been put there by consciousness, which acts as a censor, driving underground unconscious or conscious thought or instincts that it deems unacceptable • His seminal work is “The Interpretation of Dreams, ” – he suggests that we all have dreams in which repressed feelings and memories emerge

Freud • The human mind is essentially dual in nature: – The ‘ego’ or

Freud • The human mind is essentially dual in nature: – The ‘ego’ or ‘I’- the rational, logical conscious – The ‘superego’ – the conscience - learned moral judgements ØThe ‘id’ – the unconscious, exerts influence on our dreams

Jacques Lacan

Jacques Lacan

Lacan • Lacan treats the unconscious as a language, a form of discourse •

Lacan • Lacan treats the unconscious as a language, a form of discourse • Key idea: We only come to know ourselves as a ‘self’, an independent entity distinct from others and the world, through language and other systems of representation

Lacan • Recognises three stages of development: – The pre-oedipal stage – the child

Lacan • Recognises three stages of development: – The pre-oedipal stage – the child does not even recognize its independence from its mother – The mirror or imaginary stage – the child recognises itself and its mother, and later others, as independent selves – The oedipal stage – the child recognises gender differences between its parents and between itself and one of its parents – it passes from the imaginary into the symbolic as it acquires language

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