(1982). Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought, 5:45-53 Some Persistent Issues in Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism Psychoanalysts, writers, and literary critics have been engaged in a sort of ménage à trois for almost a century now, which is rather a long time for that kind of arrangement to last. As expected, each of the parties has undergone considerable change in that time, perhaps identifiable as maturation, or at least aging, and as in every such arrangement the alliances undergo periodic change, since the relationships have a basic instability. Sometimes these relationships take on the characteristic of a classic round: A pursues B, who immediately becomes interested in C, who in turn finds A to be the object of desire. Among the three parties of interest to us today it is my impression that somewhat suddenly psychoanalysis finds itself attractive once more to critics who once spurned our every overture, while the analysts themselves are tending toward ————————————— [This is a summary or excerpt from the full text of the book or article. The full text of the document is available to subscribers.] |
