PSYCHOANALYTIC CRITICISM.

Psychoanalysis is one of the branches of literary theory that emerged from psychoanalysis. This theory uses techniques of psychoanalysis in the reading of a literary text. This theory adopted a particular kind of reading to interpret the literary text. This theory looks at how the mind, instinct, and sexuality work. According to psychoanalytic criticism, critics have to psychoanalyze a particular character within a literary work. Apart from that, this theory considers all characters as reflections of the author's psyche. Therefore this theory looks at how the mind, instinct, and sexuality of a character works in literary works. Most of the theories of psychoanalysis criticism are developed by Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. 

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

Sigmund Freud is the father of psychoanalysis. His theories lead to the emergence of psychoanalytic criticism. The major concepts of Sigmund Freud are given below. 

1. Theory of Personality.

Human personality is a complex one. It is a combination of three components-id, ego, and superego. These three components work together and form complex human behavior. These are the three levels of personality. 

id

This part of the human personality contains primitive impulses like thirst, hunger, anger, and desire for instant gratification. This component is considered an inborn one. This allows us to get basic needs. According to Sigmund Freud id is based on the pleasure principle which stands for immediate gratification of desires, wants, and needs. id always wants to make us happy at a time without considering circumstances or consequences. id is sometimes considered as a devil who is sitting on our shoulders.

Superego.

Superego is another part of the personality which represents our moral side. It is considered an ethical component of personality. This part of personality forms as a result of moral and ethical restraints taught to us by society. It upholds the sense of right and wrong. This part provides guidelines for making judgments or deciding right and wrong. The superego always forces the ego to be more moralistic. This part of personality forms between the age of three and five.

Ego.

ego is another part of the human personality that maintains a balance between id and superego. The ego operates based on the reality principle which stands to satisfy the id's desire in realistic and socially acceptable ways. The ego also wanted to seek pleasure but only in an acceptable way without making any trouble. This component of the personality form at the mirror stage of a child. 

2. Condensation.

Condensation is the fusion of multiple meanings, concepts, emotions, and several different elements into one image or symbol. In other words, the blending of many ideas, and feelings into one representation is known as condensation.  Condensation usually happens in dreams. According to Freud dream is the process by which real events or desires are transformed into dream images. One dream may encompass many characters and incidences from different contexts. In other words, condensation is the process where a number of people, events, or meanings are combined and represented by a single image in the dream. One dream may combine different emotional impulses as well. Such fusion of different elements is known as condensation. 

3. Displacement.

Displacement is a defense mechanism. The transfer of negative emotion from one person to an unrelated or less related object or thing is known as displacement. A displacement is an act of redirecting impulses, usually aggressive impulses, onto a powerless or less harmful substitute target. The substitute target can be an object or a person. The target can be a symbolic substitute as well.   For example, one day at the office, the manager scolds an employee, but the employee did not scold him back instead he comes back home and scolds his spouse. 

Latent Content and Manifest Content. 

According to Sigmund Freud dreams are always related to wishes and fulfillment.  Dreams have two types of content, latent content, and manifestation content. Freud believed that each day human beings have suppressed emotions and desires. Those emotions can be reflected through dreams. The manifest content of a dream always represents those suppressed emotions and desires.  The manifest content of your dream is what happened surface level of the dream. The manifest content can be an actual event and anyone can understand the meaning with no need for interpretation.  This content has no hidden meaning because it is a literal interpretation of a dream.    

At the same time, latent content is a symbolic and hidden part of the dream. The meaning of latent content can be traumatic and disturbing and needs to be interpreted in order to understand the meaning. They often cannot remember in detail. According to Freud, this content is most important than the manifest content. Sigmund Freud believed that in human life we have to face many conflicts. Many people bury those conflicts without facing them. Interpretation of latent dream content reveals such unresolved mental conflicts.                                                                                                                                           

Jacques Lacan (1901-1981)

Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and gained a reputation as an interpreter of Sigmund Freud's work. He earned a medical degree and started a career as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He gained a reputation after the publication of Ecrits in 1966. Sometimes he is referred to as french Freude. Because Lacan's teaching and writing explain the importance of Freud's major concept of the unconscious. Following are the major works written by Freude.

• The Ego in Freud's Theory in the Technique of Psychoanalysis (1988).
• The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis(1978).
• Reason Since Freud (1966). 

MAJOR CONCEPT OF LACAN.

Stages of development.

According to Lacan, the development of a child has three stages, namely, a real stage, an imaginary stage, and a symbolic stage. The real stage is the initial stage of a child's development. The child feels a unified identity with the mother and no sense of separation. The second stage is the mirror stage where a child feels a distinction between self and the other. The mirror stage is the second stage of child development that occurs between 6-18 months. in this stage the child attains the first realization of his bodily autonomy and he started to realize different identities like man/woman, West/East, and so. The symbolic stage is the third stage of child development where the child is capable to use language. Apart from that, children also learn rules and regulations around them.

Jouissance

Jouissance is a French term used by French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan which means enjoyment. Lacan first developed this concept of Jouissance in the seminar “The Ethics of Psychoanalysis". Jouissance means physical or intellectual pleasure, delight, or ecstasy.  

This enjoyment or pleasure goes beyond the limit of satisfaction and breaks rules and regulations. Such pleasure is seen as a subversive and destabilizing force.

Lacan says that "there is a jouissance beyond the pleasure principle. A jouissance that forces constantly to break rules and regulations imposed on his enjoyment and to go beyond the pleasure principle. According to Lacan consequence of a jouissance is not more pleasure or happiness but pain. Beyond a particular limit, pleasure becomes painful. This painful principle is known as jouissance. 

Sigmund Freud and Jaques Lacan are the major writers who are closely associated with psychoanalysis. Apart from these two, there are theorists who contributed to psychoanalysis like Harold bloom, Noam Chomsky, etc.