PSYCHOANALYSIS BY HANNAH WILLIAMS, JORDAN MULVEY AND JO ABERNETHY

OVERVIEW Popular area of study and basis for many other world centred approaches including queer theory and feminism Key theorist Sigmund Freud, refined the concept of “unconscious” to isolated hidden desires, fears and forces that influence us in ways beyond our control Psychoanalysts/therapist sometimes cast themselves as ‘readers’ of their patients lives working to uncover hidden causes for behaviour

KEY PRINCIPLES “Human activity is not reducible to conscious intent”. - No one is completely self aware/in control of all their fears “While biology may have some part to play in the development of human psychology, environment also has an important role”. -Nature vs Nurture argument “Individuals move through developmental stages early in life, and traumas or experiences during that process may have a lasting effect on personality”. “The psychology of authors has impact on literary and other forms of cultural representation”. -Text is a reflection of the authors unconcious “Characters in text may also have complex psychology”.

KEY THEORISTS - FREUD Sigmund Freud ( ) Characters in a text can be analysed as I they were people Investigating the interaction of the conscious and unconscious mind Frued’s work depends upon the notion of the unconscious, repression, sublimation – that is, repressed material disguised as something grander or noble. E.g. sexual urges disguised as intense religious urges

KEY THEORISTS - FRUED ‘Infantile Sexuality’: sexuality begins not at puberty but at infancy ‘Oedipus Complex’: theory that the male infant conceives desire to eliminate the father and become the sexual partner of the mother Theorises oral, anal and phallic ‘phases’ CRITICISMS Freud became somewhat of a joke, even in his own lifetime “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar” - Frued

KEY THEORISTS - LANKAN Jacques Lankan ( ) New emphasis on the unconscious itself, as the ‘nucleus of our being’ Instead of searching for unconscious motives and feelings of characters they search out those of the text itself – contradictory undercurrents and ‘deconstructing’ of the text Demonstrates in literature psychoanalytic phases and concepts e.g lack/desire

BIBLIOGRAPHY Peter Barry Beginning Theory, Third Edition. Donald E Hall (2001) Literary and Cultural Theory. Houghton Mifflin Company Appignanesi, Richard (1998) Introducing Freud. Penguin Group, London Louis Tyson (2006) Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide. Routledge