Psychoanalysis
[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ]

The application of modern psychological principles (particularly those of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan) to the study of literature. Psychoanalytic criticism may focus on the writer's psyche, the study of the creative process, the study of psychological types and principles present within works of literature, or the effects of literature upon its readers. (Wellek and Warren, p. 81)

Further reference:

R. Selden, P. Widowson, A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory, 136-144.

Suggested Websites:

• Sigmund Freud by Tom Fish
• Psychoanalytic Criticism and Freud
• The Mind and the Book: A Long Look at Psychoanalytic Criticism by Norman N. Holland
• Freud's Use and Theory in Literary Studies