Textual Approaches Psychoanalytic Criticism

Psycho analytic criticism is a literary criticism developed by Sigmund Freud with the help of other psychologists Carl Jung, Jacques Lacan and Slaro Zizek. Psychoanalysis is a therapy used by doctors in medical science to cure mental as well as physical illness by analyzing the interactions of the conscious and unconscious elements in human mind. Psycho analysis is based on the work of the human mind, instincts and sexuality function. Psychoanalytic Criticism has made great contributions to art and literature.

 According to Freud, human being is a sexual animal. Freudian model of the psyche has three divisions. Id is the unconscious part of human psyche. It is the store house of our desires, fears and libido (psychosexual energy) The second is Ego which is the conscious part of the psyche. It acts as a referee between the Id and Super ego. The third is Super ego which human conscience. It acts as moral judge.  “The Interpretation of Dream” is the masterpiece of Sigmund Freud. In the book he speaks about the author and the content of a work. Freud says that there are two principles at work in society. First is pleasure principle and the other is reality principle. Reality principle advises human being to control his sexual pleasure and work for spiritual and social development of society.

 Freud compares art and literature to ‘Neurosis’. Every writer is suffering from this ‘neurosis’ and he lives in an illusory world of fantasies. But the writer writes about these fantasies using chiseled and polished phrases and words and connotative use of language giving immense pleasure to the reader. This writing is the expression of the author’s unconscious self.

 In short, psychoanalytic critics apply the deconstructive theory to analyze the conflicting interactions between the conscious and the unconscious of the psyche. The critics pay close attention to the unconscious motives and feelings of the characters or of the author of the work and they identify a psychic  context for the literary work. Literature, like the unconscious, is understood through images, symbols, emblems and metaphors.

“The Interpretation of Dream” helped many eminent writers with a lot of materials related with many secrets of unconscious mind. D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, I. A. Richards and T. S. Eliot are deeply influenced by the findings of Sigmund Freud.

Structuralism

Structuralism is a linguistic theory introduced by the Swiss Linguist Ferdinand de Saussure in 1950s. He explains his theory in his monumental work titled “ A Course in General Linguistics”. According to Saussure, every language is mainly used for communication  purpose.

The smallest unit of a language is called ‘sign’. A sign is a combination of two elements namely a sound image and a concept. The concept is signified by the sound image. Therefore the sound image is called the signifier and the concept is the signified. But there is no fixed relation between the sound image and the concept. Any sound image can be used for any concept. This is the arbitrary nature of sign. This is why hundreds of languages are emerged in the world.  The second principle is that every language is a structured system of arbitrary signs.

 Structuralism is an intellectual movement which began in France. It was first seen in the work  of the  great anthropologist Claude Levi Strauss and the literary work of Roland Barthes. The essence of Structuralism is that everything in the world including language is structured. Nothing is understood in isolation.  The third principle is that meaning is relational. And also that every meaning is generated from negative differences. When the position of the  sign is changed, meaning is also changed. Finally, it is language alone that creates reality. Without language there is no reality.

‘Parole’ is a term used by Saussure for the actual speech or utterances made by a speaker.

 Langue is a term used by Saussure to mean the principles of grammar, syntax or the system of language.

Deconstruction theory or Post structuralism

Deconstruction is a school of philosophy and literary criticism. It is also  called ‘re-reading’ which is introduced by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida and many American critics such  as M.H. Abrams, J. Hillis Miller and Paul de Mann, Gayathri Chakravarthy and Sevak who  made great contributions for the development of deconstruction  theory.

  But this theory is emerged out of structuralism and this is why deconstruction theory is also known as post structuralism. Ferdinand de Saussure says that meaning is stable or fixed in all circumstances. On the other hand, Jacques Derrida proves that meaning is unstable. He says that words have no fixed meaning. Words (signs) are changed positions every time and leads to the change of meanings. Moreover every word changes its meaning according  to context. This is further complicated by the connotative use of language by writers.

 According to Derrida, words are black dots on white paper. Words are mere signs which can be variously interpreted.  Derrida’s Deconstruction theory is widely accepted by scholars, writers and linguists all over the world.

This theory is applied in innumerable fields of life including music, art, architecture, anthropology, political science and psychoanalysis. The greatness of Derrida is that he sets readers free from the traditional mode of meaning and traditional way of thinking.

This led to a re-reading of ancient writers like Shakespeare, Milton and the Greek writers and philosophers, which opened up newer and hidden meanings, biases and contradictions. Derrida was admired by gay activists, feminists and other marginalized social groups which applied his theory to bring out hidden racial and sexist discriminations. Derrida is the champion of Post Modernism.   

 Kjt/-29-07-2019