Psychoanalytic criticism revolves around the work of Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist and he is regarded as the pioneer of this theory. It may best be remembered as an approach to literary interpretation rather than a particular school of thought.
This discussion covers Freud’s models in detail while the second part will deal with the relationship between a text and the human psyche.
Freud proposed different models for the human psyche and one of the early models is the Dynamic Model where he argued the human mind is a dichotomy which means consisting of conscious and unconscious parts. He proposed that a substantial proportion of our behavior is governed by the unconscious, not the conscious.
The
most important model proposed by Freud is the tripartite model where
the human psyche is divided into three parts, the id, the ego, and the
superego.
Another
important model he devised is the psychosexual developmental model.
According
to him, there are three phases of our development in terms of psychosexual. The
oral, anal and phallic. The oral stage lasts from birth to two years. The mouth
is the infant's primary source of pleasure, which is obtained by sucking,
biting, feeding, and other actions. In the anal stage, the source of pleasure
changed to the anus. The infant enjoys eliminating feces, but with the
commencement of toilet training, he or she is compelled to postpone or delay
this pleasure. Sexual drives are geared toward the genitals during the phallic
stage when the kid learns the pleasure that comes from engaging one's sexual
organs.
As the child matures into an adult, he or she must develop a feeling of sexuality, a sense of maleness or femaleness. It can be achieved by the handling of either the Oedipus or Electra complex.
The article is written
by MSM YAQOOB, the CEO and Founder of this platform.
