Psychoanalytic literary criticism
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| + | "I favor a [[Shakespearean]] reading of Freud, and not a [[Freudian]] reading of Shakespeare." --''[[The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages|The Western Canon]]'' (1994) by Harold Bloom, p. 22 | ||
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| + | "Psychoanalysis was applied to literature long before [[Sigmund Freud|Freud]]. When biographers recounted all the influences of an author's life upon his works, or probed deeply into the real meaning of his views, they gave us psychoanalytic criticism. Great literary critics like [[Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve|Sainte-Beuve]], [[Hippolyte Taine|Taine]] and [[Georg Brandes|George Brandes]] traced the tendencies of authors' works to emotional crises in their lives. Critics who study the various ways in which authors have come to draw themselves or people they knew in their books, are psychoanalytic. When biographers and critics dilate especially on the relations existing between the writer and his mother, and trace the effects on the work of the author, they employ the psychoanalytic method. Any profound insight into human nature is psychoanalytic, and I find such insight in [[Swift]], [[Johnson]], [[Hazlitt]] and [[Charles Lamb|Lamb]]."--''[[The Erotic Motive in Literature]]'' (1919) by Albert Mordell | ||
| + | <hr> | ||
| + | "''[[The History of Painting: From the Fourth to the Early Nineteenth Century |Geschichte der Malerei]]'' [...] treats the entire development of [[Art of Europe |European painting]] from the downfall of the antique world to the early nineteenth century [...] [and interprets] the great styles of painting from the [[Psychoanalytic literary criticism|psychology of the age]] in which they originated."--''[[The History of Painting: From the Fourth to the Early Nineteenth Century]]'' (1893/94) by Richard Muther | ||
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| - | '''Psychoanalytic literary criticism''' is [[literary criticism]] which, in method, concept, [[literary theory|theory]] or form, is influenced by the tradition of [[psychoanalysis]] begun by [[Sigmund Freud]]. Psychoanalytic reading has been practiced since the early development of psychoanalysis itself, and has developed into a rich and heterogeneous interpretive tradition. Two early examples include ''[[The Defeat of Baudelaire]]'' (1931), ''[[The Life and Works of E. A. Poe: a Psychoanalytic Interpretation]]'' (1933) and more recent one ''[[The Purloined Poe: Lacan, Derrida and Psychoanalytic Reading]]''. | + | '''Psychoanalytic literary criticism''' is [[literary criticism]] which, in method, concept, [[literary theory|theory]] or form, is influenced by the tradition of [[psychoanalysis]] begun by [[Sigmund Freud]]. Psychoanalytic reading has been practiced since the early development of psychoanalysis itself, and has developed into a rich and heterogeneous interpretive tradition. Three early examples include ''[[Flaubert und seine Versuchung des heiligen Antonius]]'' ([[1912]]) by [[Theodor Reik]], ''[[The Defeat of Baudelaire]]'' ([[1931]]) by [[René Laforgue]], ''[[The Life and Works of E. A. Poe: a Psychoanalytic Interpretation]]'' ([[1933]]) by [[Princess Marie Bonaparte]] and more recently, ''[[The Purloined Poe: Lacan, Derrida and Psychoanalytic Reading]]''. |
| + | ==History== | ||
| + | ===Avant-la-lettre=== | ||
| + | :"Psychoanalysis was applied to literature long before [[Sigmund Freud|Freud]]. When biographers recounted all the influences of an author's life upon his works, or probed deeply into the real meaning of his views, they gave us psychoanalytic criticism. Great literary critics like [[Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve|Sainte-Beuve]], [[Hippolyte Taine|Taine]] and [[Georg Brandes|George Brandes]] traced the tendencies of authors' works to emotional crises in their lives. Critics who study the various ways in which authors have come to draw themselves or people they knew in their books, are psychoanalytic. When biographers and critics dilate especially on the relations existing between the writer and his mother, and trace the effects on the work of the author, they employ the psychoanalytic method. Any profound insight into human nature is psychoanalytic, and I find such insight in [[Swift]], [[Johnson]], [[Hazlitt]] and [[Charles Lamb|Lamb]]." --''[[The Erotic Motive in Literature]]'' | ||
| + | A notable precursor to Freud et al was also Paul Bourget and his ''[[Essais de psychologie contemporaine]]'' of the 1880s. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Freud et al=== | ||
| Freud wrote several important essays on literature, which he used to explore the psyche of authors and characters, to explain narrative mysteries, and to develop new concepts in psychoanalysis (for instance, ''[[Delusion and Dream in Jensen's Gradiva]]''). His sometime disciples and later readers, such as [[Carl Jung]] and later [[Jacques Lacan]], were avid readers of literature as well, and used literary examples as illustrations of important concepts in their work (for instance, Lacan argued with [[Jacques Derrida]] over the interpretation of [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s "[[The Purloined Letter]]"). | Freud wrote several important essays on literature, which he used to explore the psyche of authors and characters, to explain narrative mysteries, and to develop new concepts in psychoanalysis (for instance, ''[[Delusion and Dream in Jensen's Gradiva]]''). His sometime disciples and later readers, such as [[Carl Jung]] and later [[Jacques Lacan]], were avid readers of literature as well, and used literary examples as illustrations of important concepts in their work (for instance, Lacan argued with [[Jacques Derrida]] over the interpretation of [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s "[[The Purloined Letter]]"). | ||
| - | + | ==Object== | |
| The object of psychoanalytic literary criticism, at its very simplest, can be the psychoanalysis of the author or of a particularly interesting character. In this directly therapeutic form, it is very similar to psychoanalysis itself, closely following the analytic interpretive process discussed in Freud's ''[[Interpretation of Dreams]]''. But many more complex variations are possible. The concepts of psychoanalysis can be deployed with reference to the narrative or poetic structure itself, without requiring access to the authorial psyche (an interpretation motivated by Lacan's remark that "the unconscious is structured like a language"). Or the founding texts of psychoanalysis may themselves be treated as literature, and re-read for the light cast by their formal qualities on their theoretical content (Freud's texts frequently resemble [[detective stories]], or the [[archaeological]] narratives of which he was so fond). | The object of psychoanalytic literary criticism, at its very simplest, can be the psychoanalysis of the author or of a particularly interesting character. In this directly therapeutic form, it is very similar to psychoanalysis itself, closely following the analytic interpretive process discussed in Freud's ''[[Interpretation of Dreams]]''. But many more complex variations are possible. The concepts of psychoanalysis can be deployed with reference to the narrative or poetic structure itself, without requiring access to the authorial psyche (an interpretation motivated by Lacan's remark that "the unconscious is structured like a language"). Or the founding texts of psychoanalysis may themselves be treated as literature, and re-read for the light cast by their formal qualities on their theoretical content (Freud's texts frequently resemble [[detective stories]], or the [[archaeological]] narratives of which he was so fond). | ||
| + | ==People== | ||
| + | * [[René Girard]] | ||
| + | * [[Julia Kristeva]] | ||
| + | * [[Teresa de Lauretis]] | ||
| + | * [[Camille Paglia]] | ||
| + | * [[Peter Brooks (writer)|Peter Brooks]] | ||
| + | * [[Slavoj Žižek]] | ||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
| - | * Barthes, Roland. Trans. Stephen Heath. “[[The Death of the Author]].” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001. | + | * "[[The Death of the Author]]" by [[Barthes]] |
| - | * Bowie, Malcolm. Psychoanalysis and the Future of Theory. Cambridge, MA: B. Blackwell, 1994. | + | * "[[The Uncanny (Freud)|The Uncanny]]" by [[Sigmund Freud]] |
| - | * Ellmann, ed. ''Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism''. ISBN 0-582-08347-8. | + | *''[[The Erotic Motive in Literature]]'' by Albert Mordell |
| - | * [[Shoshana Felman|Felman, Shoshana]], ed. ''Literature and Psychoanalysis: The Question of Reading: Otherwise''. ISBN 0-8018-2754-X. | + | |
| - | * Frankland, Graham, Freud’s Literary Culture. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. | + | |
| - | * Freud, Sigmund. Trans. Alix Strachey. “[[The Uncanny]].” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001. | + | |
| - | * Freud, Sigmund. Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. 24 Volumes. trans and ed. James Strachey. London: Hogarth Press, 1953-74. | + | |
| - | * Hert, Neil. “Freud and the Sandman.” The End of the Line: Essays on Psychoanalysis and the Sublime. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985. | + | |
| - | * Hoffmann, E.T.A. [[The Devil's Elixirs]]. Trans. Ronald Taylor. London: J. Calder, 1963. | + | |
| - | * Hoffmann, E.T.A. “[[The Sandmann]].” Weird Tales. Trans. J.T. Bealby. Freeport NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1970. | + | |
| - | * Muller and Richardson, eds. ''[[The Purloined Poe: Lacan, Derrida and Psychoanalytic Reading]]''. ISBN 0-8018-3293-4 | + | |
| - | * Rudnistsky, Peter L., Ellen Handler Spits, Eds. Freud and Forbidden Knowledge. New York: New York University Press, 1994. | + | |
| - | * Smith, Joseph H. Ed. The Literary Freud: Mechanisms of Defense and the Poetic Will. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1980. | + | |
| - | ==Charles Mauron: Psychocriticism== | ||
| - | see [[Charles Mauron]] | ||
| == See also == | == See also == | ||
| *[[Thematic literary criticism]] | *[[Thematic literary criticism]] | ||
| *[[Psychoanalytical film theory]] | *[[Psychoanalytical film theory]] | ||
| - | + | *Psychocriticism by [[Charles Mauron]] | |
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
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"I favor a Shakespearean reading of Freud, and not a Freudian reading of Shakespeare." --The Western Canon (1994) by Harold Bloom, p. 22 "Psychoanalysis was applied to literature long before Freud. When biographers recounted all the influences of an author's life upon his works, or probed deeply into the real meaning of his views, they gave us psychoanalytic criticism. Great literary critics like Sainte-Beuve, Taine and George Brandes traced the tendencies of authors' works to emotional crises in their lives. Critics who study the various ways in which authors have come to draw themselves or people they knew in their books, are psychoanalytic. When biographers and critics dilate especially on the relations existing between the writer and his mother, and trace the effects on the work of the author, they employ the psychoanalytic method. Any profound insight into human nature is psychoanalytic, and I find such insight in Swift, Johnson, Hazlitt and Lamb."--The Erotic Motive in Literature (1919) by Albert Mordell "Geschichte der Malerei [...] treats the entire development of European painting from the downfall of the antique world to the early nineteenth century [...] [and interprets] the great styles of painting from the psychology of the age in which they originated."--The History of Painting: From the Fourth to the Early Nineteenth Century (1893/94) by Richard Muther |
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Psychoanalytic literary criticism is literary criticism which, in method, concept, theory or form, is influenced by the tradition of psychoanalysis begun by Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalytic reading has been practiced since the early development of psychoanalysis itself, and has developed into a rich and heterogeneous interpretive tradition. Three early examples include Flaubert und seine Versuchung des heiligen Antonius (1912) by Theodor Reik, The Defeat of Baudelaire (1931) by René Laforgue, The Life and Works of E. A. Poe: a Psychoanalytic Interpretation (1933) by Princess Marie Bonaparte and more recently, The Purloined Poe: Lacan, Derrida and Psychoanalytic Reading.
Contents |
History
Avant-la-lettre
- "Psychoanalysis was applied to literature long before Freud. When biographers recounted all the influences of an author's life upon his works, or probed deeply into the real meaning of his views, they gave us psychoanalytic criticism. Great literary critics like Sainte-Beuve, Taine and George Brandes traced the tendencies of authors' works to emotional crises in their lives. Critics who study the various ways in which authors have come to draw themselves or people they knew in their books, are psychoanalytic. When biographers and critics dilate especially on the relations existing between the writer and his mother, and trace the effects on the work of the author, they employ the psychoanalytic method. Any profound insight into human nature is psychoanalytic, and I find such insight in Swift, Johnson, Hazlitt and Lamb." --The Erotic Motive in Literature
A notable precursor to Freud et al was also Paul Bourget and his Essais de psychologie contemporaine of the 1880s.
Freud et al
Freud wrote several important essays on literature, which he used to explore the psyche of authors and characters, to explain narrative mysteries, and to develop new concepts in psychoanalysis (for instance, Delusion and Dream in Jensen's Gradiva). His sometime disciples and later readers, such as Carl Jung and later Jacques Lacan, were avid readers of literature as well, and used literary examples as illustrations of important concepts in their work (for instance, Lacan argued with Jacques Derrida over the interpretation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Purloined Letter").
Object
The object of psychoanalytic literary criticism, at its very simplest, can be the psychoanalysis of the author or of a particularly interesting character. In this directly therapeutic form, it is very similar to psychoanalysis itself, closely following the analytic interpretive process discussed in Freud's Interpretation of Dreams. But many more complex variations are possible. The concepts of psychoanalysis can be deployed with reference to the narrative or poetic structure itself, without requiring access to the authorial psyche (an interpretation motivated by Lacan's remark that "the unconscious is structured like a language"). Or the founding texts of psychoanalysis may themselves be treated as literature, and re-read for the light cast by their formal qualities on their theoretical content (Freud's texts frequently resemble detective stories, or the archaeological narratives of which he was so fond).
People
References
- "The Death of the Author" by Barthes
- "The Uncanny" by Sigmund Freud
- The Erotic Motive in Literature by Albert Mordell
See also
- Thematic literary criticism
- Psychoanalytical film theory
- Psychocriticism by Charles Mauron
