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Twenty-five years and thirty days.

The Psychoanalytic Quarterly

|January 1, 1986

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Psychoanalytic literary criticism evolved through three phases: classical, ego psychology, and self psychology. Once disdained, it

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Area of Science:

Literary Studies
Psychoanalytic Theory
Cultural Criticism

Background:

Psychoanalytic literary criticism has evolved significantly over time.
Historically, it faced disdain within literary circles.
Contemporary criticism increasingly employs associative methods.

Purpose of the Study:

To trace the historical development of psychoanalytic literary criticism.
To delineate the distinct phases of its evolution: classical, ego psychology, and self psychology.
To examine the current landscape of literary criticism and its relationship to psychoanalytic concepts.

Main Methods:

Historical analysis of psychoanalytic literary criticism.
Comparative study of different phases of criticism (classical, ego psychology, self psychology).

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Examination of associative methods in contemporary literary analysis.

Main Results:

Psychoanalytic literary criticism progressed through three inclusive phases: classical (oedipal conflicts), ego psychology (literary structures), and self psychology (deepening reader-text relations).
The field has transitioned from being disdained to highly fashionable.
Other critical approaches now use associations but often omit acknowledgment of the critic's self or countertransference.

Conclusions:

Psychoanalytic literary criticism offers a robust framework for understanding literature through evolving theoretical lenses.
The increasing use of associations in various critical schools highlights the enduring relevance of psychoanalytic insights.
A key distinction remains in the explicit acknowledgment and utilization of the critic's subjective experience (self, countertransference) within psychoanalytic criticism.