Psychoanalysis

and Literature
DR N AIR A NU P CH A NDR AS E K H A RA N

B I S H O P M O O RE C O LL E G E

M AV EL IK A RA
 READING THE TEXT TO READ THE
PSYCHE:
Psychoanalytic 1. Texts are read for DESIRES that
Criticism are concealed, DRIVES and THE
Is a form of Literary
UNCONSCIOUS.
Criticism which uses 2. This is a critical move to explore
some of the techniques the nature of the human psyche by
of Psychoanalysis in the
exploring the denser, hidden
interpretation of
Literature
meaning of texts and their
characters.
The Austrian
DESIRE AND LANGUAGE
SIGMUND
FREUD DESIRE-----DOES NOT express itself
developed this early BECAUSE - CULTURE does not
theory allow or facilitate it.
FREUD emphasised
that LANGUAGE
To discover DESIRE----We need to pay
concealed, revealed
attention to LANGUAGE and Other
or modified hidden
forms of symbolic representation
desires, anxieties and
fears.
 FREUD’S GREATEST INSIGHT:
The mechanisms of the unconscious, of
desires and fears acquires a language of its
own.
TWO TERMS
Psychoanalytic Criticism explores this
CONSCIOUS SELF: language of the unconscious.
Projects an image that is
culturally and socially It analyses the repressed and the hidden as
acceptable embodied in the literary or cultural texts such
as art and fiction.
UNCONSCIOUS: It finds a
way to express itself While doing so, it pays particular attention to
through language and the repression of sexuality and its desires,
literary texts
 THE EGO
THE
STRUCTURE OF 1. It is the conscious mind, which we work
with, use and are most aware of.
THE HUMAN
PSYCHE 2. It is the source of our decision making and
rational thought process.
THREE COMPONENTS:

1. THE EGO 3. It mediates between the unconscious ID

and the Superego
2. THE SUPEREGO

3. THE ID 4. It tries its best to negotiate the conflict

between the insatiable demands of ID and
impossibly stringent requirements of the
superego.
 The Superego

THE This can be called our conscience

SUPEREGO This is drawn from social settings and cultural codes and
influences the way the conscious works.
and ID This is the internalisation of the standards of morality
and propriety.

The ID

Freud’s favourite territory.

Area of instincts, dreams and desires and all that does

not come to the fore of our consciousness.

This is the Unconscious and it incorporates libidinal and

other desires.
 1. THE UNCONSCIOUS
Human Psyche has an area into
Certain Critical which go all those desires and
Terms fantasies that cannot be expressed.
‘Unconscious’ is the name given to
this area because we are unaware
of its existence.
The Unconscious is the greatest
threat to our identity as rational
humans.
 This term is the cornerstone of psychoanalytic theory.
This is the process through which certain desires,
especially sexual, are pushed into the unconscious so
that they do not influence our daily lives and our
conscious mind.
2. REPRESSION Thus what is hidden away continues to exist in our
unconscious.
Guilt inducing desire and traumatic events such as the
death of a loved one or abuses are quickly shunted out of
the conscious and relegated into the unconscious, to
emerge only in particular moments – usually in form of
dreams or during stressful situations.
Thus forbidden desires, that if expressed, can lead to
guilt are shut away in the unconscious through
repression.
 What is repressed does not always stay
repressed
3. Parapraxes
(Freudian The unconscious emerges in particular
moments as images, dreams, jokes and even
Slips) art
The psychoanalyst explores these images
and uncovers those desires that have been
repressed.
Freud thus proposes that art draws upon the
unconscious for its themes and images
 Freud emphasised on the tensions generated
PLEASURE by these two basic principles
PRINCIPLE AND
The PLEASURE PRINCIPLE is one where all
REALITY
our acts are generated by the need to attain
PRINCIPLE
pleasure and avoid ‘unpleasure’
The REALITY PRINCIPLE enables us to
understand that our pleasures cannot all be
fulfilled the way we want them and therefore
it inspires us to seek other routes of attaining
pleasure
 Sexuality is the primary ‘drive’ in our subjectivity
according to Freud and he termed this drive as “the
Libido”

The problem is that not all sex drives or desires can be

LIBIDO put into operation.
Therefore, what gets repressed primarily is the ‘sex
drive’
An individual’s sexual identity is hence partly the
result of expression of desires and partly the
conditions caused by a repression of the same.

In order to explain this Freud developed the idea of

Oedipus Complex
 Freud described DREAMS as the ‘royal road’ to the
unconscious.
DREAMS AND Dreams provide us with the best understanding of the
THE repressed desires in us.

UNCONSCIOUS A direct access to its contents is impossible

It emerges when the conscious is shut down, as during

sleep.

Dream may not be a direct expression of the repressed

desire.

Freud argues that the dream is a state of tension

between the power of the impulse or instinctual desire
and the power of the repressing force.
 Dreams are codes, presenting themselves as complex
images so that the repressing force is bypassed
DREAMS AND Dreams are therefore distorted expressions of desire that
THE have to be decoded by the analyst in order to understand
what desires and prohibitions exist in the person’s
UNCONSCIOUS unconscious.
Psychoanalytical readings
focus on the relationship
between literature, the * To Freud, dreams are the “royal road” to the
unconscious mind personal unconscious of the dreamer and have a direct
relation to literature, which often has the structure of a
and our conscious actions dream.
and thoughts.
* Jacques Lacan, a disciple of Freud, was influenced by
Freud’s psychoanalytical theories and contended that
dreams mirrored our unconscious and reflected the way
we use language; dreams, therefore, operate like
Sigmund Freud believes that
language, having their own rhetorical qualities.
“Dreams are the guardians of * Another Freud disciple, Carl Jung, eventually rejected
sleep” Freud’s theory that dreams are manifestations of the
personal unconsciousness, claiming, instead, that they
Where they become
reflect archetypes that tap into the “collective
“disguised fulfilments of unconsciousness” of all humanity.
repressed wishes” Source - Sigmund Freud. The Interpretation of
Dreams in The Freud Reader, ed. Peter Gay, (New York:
Norton, 1989).
FREUD’S
PSYCHOSEXUAL Oral (Birth to One Year)
THEORY AND 5
STAGES OF HUMAN Anal (1 to 3 Years)
DEVELOPMENT
Phallic (3 to 6 Years)
Latency (6 Years to Puberty)

Genital stage (Puberty to Adulthood)

 These are psychosexual stages

Each stage represents the fixation of libido on a

different area of the body which become
important at that period of life.

These become sources of frustration or pleasure

Each Psychosexual Stage is or both.
associated with a particular
conflict that must be resolved Life was built around tension and pleasure.
before the individual can advance
to the next stage
Tension was caused by build-up of Libido or
Freud’s analogy of the Military the Sexual/Pleasure energy
Troops charge.
Pleasure was caused by the release of Libido
Freud’s
Psychosexual
stages
 Mental abnormality can occur if a stage is not completed
successfully and the person becomes ‘fixated’ in a
particular stage.
Fixation This particular theory shows how childhood experiences
Psychology determine adult personality
For example, phallic fixation might result in anxiety
about sexual performance, the need for reassurance and
validation, or a tendency to be overly assertive or
aggressive.

In women, fixation at the phallic stage could lead to a

desire to dominate men, a rivalry with other women, or
the need for male attention or approval
FREUD’S
PERSONALITY
FIXATION
 Oedipal Complex-generic term for both Oedipus and Electra Complex

Occurs during Phallic Stage of development-3 to 6 years

Libido (life force) is concentrated in the erogenous zones of the child’s

body
OEDIPAL During the phallic stage, what the boy loves most is his penis.

COMPLEX Hence the boy develops castration anxiety.

According to Freud, the fear of retaliation from the father (castration

anxiety) eventually leads the boy to repress these incestuous desires
and identify with the father, adopting his characteristics and values.

Through this identification with the aggressor, boys acquire their

superego and the male sex role.

The boy substitutes his desire for his mother with his desire for other
women.
 For girls, the Electra complex begins with the belief that
she’s already been castrated.

PENIS ENVY She blames her mother for this and experiences penis envy.

For girls to develop their superego and female sex role,

they need to identify with the mother.

But the girl’s motivation for giving up her father as a love-

object is less than boys.

This makes the female superego weaker.

Therefore, their identity as separate, independent persons is

less well developed.
 Jung – follower of Freud
PERSONAL
VS Criticised Freud’s emphasis on Sexuality
COLLECTIVE during development
UNCONSCIOUS
Jung thus developed analytical
psychology

He added Collective Unconscious to

Freud’s idea of Personal Unconscious
Ego represents the conscious mind
The Personal Unconscious contains memories
even supressed ones.
The Collective Unconscious served as a form
of psychological inheritance.
It contained all of the knowledge and
experiences that humans share as a species.
He rejected the concept of tabula rasa
Human mind retained “primordial images”
The collective unconscious are expressed in archetypes
Jung believed that there could be an unlimited number of
archetypes
These archetypes are realised / expressed based on
cultural influences and personal experiences
These archetypes may be inferred by looking at religion,
dreams, art and literature.
The representations of the archetypes are not inherited
only the forms are and they correspond to the instincts.
The existence of the instincts and the archetypes cannot
be proved unless they manifest themselves concretely.
 PERSONA

Persona is how we present ourselves to the world.

FOUR MAJOR Persona is from the Latin word which means the mask.

ARCHETYPES This mask supresses

all primitive urges, impulses, and emotions that are

PERSONA
not considered socially acceptable.
SHADOW
Persona could thus stop the exhibition of the true
ANIMA / ANIMUS self.
THE SELF
SHADOW

Shadow represents the darker side of the psyche.

Shadow is a part of the unconscious mind

Shadow is composed of repressed ideas,

weaknesses, desires, instincts, and shortcomings.

People tend to deny the existence of these elements

in themselves and may project the same on others.

It may come in dreams and visions in various ways.

Eg. A demon, a wild exotic figure etc.
ANIMA OR ANIMUS

The anima is a feminine image in the male

psyche

Animus is a male image in the female psyche.

The anima/animus represents the "true self" not

the one we present to the outer world.

The combined anima and animus is known as

the syzygy or the divine couple. The syzygy
represents completion, unification, and
wholeness
THE SELF

Self is created through a process known as individuation.

Various aspects of personality are integrated

There is a disharmony between the unconscious and conscious

mind.

Jung believed that this could lead to psychological problems.

Bringing these conflicts into conscious awareness is the

individuation process.

The ego makes up the center of consciousness

The self that lies at the center of personality

Personality encompasses not only consciousness but also the ego

and the unconscious mind.

For Jung, the ultimate aim was for an individual to achieve a sense
of cohesive self, similar in many ways to Maslow's concept
of self-actualization.
THANK YOU