Origins of Psychonalysis
Psychoanalytic criticism of literature began in the 1930's and is based primarily upon the Freudian method of analyzing the human mind. Sigmund Freud developed an approach to human psychology that was most directly concerned with the effects of repressed wishes, fantasies, and anxieties on one's unconscious mind (especially with respect to dreams), on the self, and most importantly how those wishes are released. Similarly, the psychoanalytic approach to literature deals with the minds of both reader and author, analyzing elements of the text for evidence of repressed wishes, fantasies, and anxieties.
Before 1950, those who engaged in psychoanalytical criticism chose to focus on the mind of the writer rather than the reader. The central idea behind this approach was that texts served as repositories for those repressed desires of the authors. It was thought that authors were relieving themselves of these desires in their literature, thus protecting themselves from the anxieties that come with repression. After 1950 however, the focus shifted to analyzing the dynamic between author and reader in the text. The idea was that the writer's works were particularly alluring to readers because they appealed to their repressed fantasies. This shift away from the author eventually led to a new focus on the interaction between reader and text in what object-relations theorist D.W. Winnicot "calls a 'transitional' or 'potential space' ". This led to ideas about reading literature in a more subjective manner similar in nature to that of post-structuralist reading. Sigmund Freud is considered the progenitor of the repression-based form of psychoanalysis. Years after the passing of Sigmund Freud however, many came to regard Jacques Lacan as the preeminent Freudian psychoanalyst. The major difference between Freud and Lacan was the way in which they viewed the unconscious mind and it's influence on the individual. Lacan approached the human mind from a linguistic perspective–choosing to view dreams as a form of speech rather than as an exhibition of repressed thoughts. Lacan even re-evaluated Freud's concept of the Oedipus complex, relating human stages of development with increased understanding of language. The major elements of a psychoanalytic reading deal with the extraction of repressed wishes and thoughts from the language of a text. Whether these are the wishes of the author, or wishes of the reader inserted into the text by the author for increased enjoyment, identifying and analyzing these thoughts is key to the psychoanalytic reading of any text. Reference: The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms by Ross Murfin and Supryia M. Ray. Copyright 1998 by Bedford Books. |