Literature is recognised as having significantly influenced the development of modern psychoanalytic thought. In recent years, psychoanalysis has drawn increasingly on the literary and artistic traditions of western culture and moved away from its original medical–scientific context. Originally published in 1991, The Chamber of Maiden Thought (Keats's metaphor for 'the awakening of the thinking principle') is an original and revealing exploration of the seminal role of literature in forming the modern psychoanalytic model of the mind.
Key Features
- Explores the influence of literature on psychoanalytic thought.
- Examines the internal relations between the self and the mind's 'objects'.
- Illustrates insights from literature through examples from authors like Shakespeare, Milton, and Emily Bronte.
- Encourages psychoanalytic workers to respond to the influence of literature.
Additional Information
The crux of the 'post-Kleinian' psychoanalytic view of personality development lies in the drama of identifications, which can be seen played out metaphorically and figuratively in literature. The authors, Meg Harris Williams and Margot Waddell, argue that psychoanalysis is a true child of literature rather than merely the interpreter or explainer of literature. This connection illustrates the dynamic mental processes presented in various literary works. The Chamber of Maiden Thought enables practitioners to tap into a cultural potential whose insights into the human mind are of immense value.
