Literature on/of Psychology

[Morbid Swither]

I find it interesting that Olga Tokarczuk is a psychologist. I had been musing on this recently....It got me to thinking about Freud, and that his writings on psychology are considered a keystone in the Wester Canon (indeed, one of Bloom's "26"). To me this demonstrates how vital writings on psychology are (and how, at least potentially, influential).

Now, I also think that Jonah Lehrer's work Proust Was a Neuroscientist is also fascinating, its thesis essentially being to establish that the artists of the world are instrumental in the collective understanding of how the mind works, in a nutshell.

Of course there is also Carl Jung....Certainly the precedent for enormously influential psychologists in literature does not begin and end with Sigmund Freud.

Then, in the world of literary theory, criticism, there is even more connections.

I noticed that Penguin Modern Classics (UK), has added a wide swarth of titles from the Canadian social psychologist, Erving Goffman (1922-1982).
As well as a title from an author (psychotherapist, foremost) named Virginia M. Axline: Dibs in Search of Self: Personality Development in Play Therapy.

Not sure if anyone has read anything from Andrew Solomon, but he ranks in the highest echelon of writers (non-fiction, albeit) at work in my lifetime. I have devoured his many articles and extremely educational, thought-providing, empathetic, and insightful books with fascination and gratitude! Seriously, like Rebeca Solnit, and just a precious few others, I feel smarter if not wiser having read. Solomon is not a psychologist per se, but I'm convinced that he understands the subject comprehensively.

This isn't the most constructive post... But I'd love to hear other's thoughts on the subject. Oliver Sachs also comes to mind.

 

[Leseratte]

Thanks for opening this thread, Morb.
I think Freud was also the first official literary critic to evaluate a literary text from the point of view of psychoanalyses. He enjoyed writing about literature and art.

Some of the essays I remember:

"The Uncanny", on E T A Hoffmann's "The Sandmann" https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/freud1.pdf

"The Theme of the Three Caskets" ( Shakespeare´s Merchant of Venice): https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Freud_ThreeCaskets.pdf

DELUSION & DREAM AN INTERPRETATION IN THE LIGHT OF PSYCHOANALYSIS OF GRADIVA, A NOVEL, BY WILHELM JENSEN, https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Freud_Gradiva.pdf
Gradiva, it seems, was a rather obscure novel by one Wilhelm Jensen, until Freud discovered that it offered rich food for psychoanalytical interpretation.

 

[Benny Profane]

Arthur Schnitzler and António Lobo Antunes are both psychiatrists and approach the human conflicts by a psychologic perspective.

Morb, try to read Miss Else by Schnitzler and the trilogy (Elephant's Memory, The South of Nowhere and Knowledge from Hell) by Antunes.

In a "best-seller" perspective there is Victor Frankl and his approach about memories and psychological traumas.

In nowadays in Brazil there is Natália Timerman who published a book called Copo Vazio (An Empty Glass) - unfortunately there is no translation in english - about liquidty mordernity and relationships on dating apps. She was psychologist too.
I haven't read yet but this book is very being acclaimed here.

 

[Ater Lividus Ruber & V]

Tranströmer was also a psychologist!

 

[Morbid Swither]

Tranströmer was also a psychologist!

That’s right! I forgot about that somehow

 

[Stevie B]

American author Millen Brand wasn't a psychiatrist, but psychiatry and mental health institutions are a main focus in two of his novels, The Outward Room (1937) and Savage Sleep (1968), and in his award-winning screenplay for the film "The Snake Pit" (1948). He also explored psychoanalysis in Savage Sleep. Brand primarily made his living as a copy editor and as a writing professor, and his literary output, though well-regarded, was quite limited. Brand's career as a screenplay writer came to an immediate halt after he was blacklisted for refusing to name names in a hearing chaired by Joseph McCarthy, the fanatic Senator who was on a crusade to root out Communists in Hollywood. The Outward Room was rereleased by New York Review Books in 2010, bringing renewed attention to Brand's work - 30 years after his death.

 

[Morbid Swither]

American author Millen Brand wasn't a psychiatrist, but psychiatry and mental health institutions are a main focus in two of his novels, The Outward Room (1937) and Savage Sleep (1968), and in his award-winning screenplay for the film "The Snake Pit" (1948). He also explored psychoanalysis in Savage Sleep. Brand primarily made his living as a copy editor and as a writing professor, and his literary output, though well-regarded, was quite limited. Brand's career as a screenplay writer came to an immediate halt after he was blacklisted for refusing to name names in a hearing chaired by Joseph McCarthy, the fanatic Senator who was on a crusade to root out Communists in Hollywood. The Outward Room was rereleased by New York Review Books in 2010, bringing renewed attention to Brand's work - 30 years after his death.

Thank you for sharing. NYRB is so excellent, they’ve been at it for some time now, and their mission seems so essential for readers in English to discover the forgotten “classics” and world masterpieces. I will consider finding one of his works!

 

[Liam]

What a great idea for a thread, Ryan,

My favorite psychoanalyst of the Old School, other than Freud and Jung, is probably James Hillman. His book The Dream and the Underworld was one of the most influential on my life (and creative work) in particular.

 

[Liam]

Has anyone mentioned Jacques Lacan yet? He's probably one of the most difficult theorists (if not THE most difficult) around, but SO worth it, if only to exercise those brain cells of yours,

A good place to start is The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, which lays out most of his main ideas quite nicely

 

[Morbid Swither]

What a great idea for a thread, Ryan,

My favorite psychoanalyst of the Old School, other than Freud and Jung, is probably James Hillman. His book The Dream and the Underworld was one of the most influential on my life (and creative work) in particular.

Thanks for contributing to the thread, Liam In all honesty, his (Hillman) name is totally unfamiliar to me, but I think I will seek out "Suicide and the Soul" immediately.

I have determined to read Ecrits, but I doubt I'll even understand it. I have a friend and when we are casually chatting between us, we have a scale used to measure difficulty. "Philosophy-Hard" is the name we've given the top tier. Now, I do like and read philosophy and theory, but ... it's hard. LOL

I started reading Paul Ricouer's Memory, History, Forgetting in 2008 and still have 80+ pages to go, but damn.

 

[Leseratte]

Has anyone mentioned Jacques Lacan yet? He's probably one of the most difficult theorists (if not THE most difficult) around, but SO worth it, if only to exercise those brain cells of yours,

A good place to start is The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, which lays out most of his main ideas quite nicely

Thanks, @Liam! I quite forgot him! Maybe because he used to be a torment!

 

[MichaelHW]

Nellie Bly wrote about psychiatry in the 1880s. Also I remember an old story by two Belgian brothers. They wrote under the pen name J.-H. Rosny. They are known in French scifi as the second greatest after Jules Verne. But before they began their ventures into scifi they wrote many brilliant short stories in syndicated newspapers. Many were translated, and some of these translations are public domain now.

A few years ago I came across one dealing with a mental patient. I think it will explain what Nellie Bly revolted against, as well the sort of treatment that preceded psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is a theory derived from readings of mythology, not so much empirical studies.

(Which is why it not used so much today. It is almost always cognitive behavioral therapy that is used.)

My point is, however, that even if psychoanalysis today falls short, it was a considerable improvement at the time.
Here is an audiobook that i produced (I am not the reader) of this H.-L Rosny story about a nineteenth century mental patient undergoing pre-Freudian treatment.