As we have discussed in class, texts can be viewed from many different critical perspectives. How a text is read will depend on who is reading it, where and when.
To begin with I would like you to complete some research into Sigmund Freud and Karl Gustav Jung.
What do you think a Freudian or Jungian reading of a text would involve? What angle / perspective would one approach the text from?
The whole concept of believing writing is written by the unconscious mind allows me to think that the people who follow this belief would believe that their unconscious ideas are correct but Jung’s idea of having equal rights whilst having an unconscious mind allows me to believe that a follower of this belief would believe there is no right or wrong answer I.E when they do something good but consider the evil.
ReplyDeleteBy them writing down their dreams as such it could be seen as a form of counselling as by releasing the painful memories which Freud thought was happening.
I believe the perspective angle the reader would then approach it from is to try and engage in to the writers mind and take the mind set of that person so they would truly believe what is happening is going on around them.
Sarah Pettigrew.
Novellas are explored through our own interpation,as a fredudian reader the unconscious minds is of a signfcant importance. The unconscious would enable readers to have further insight on this particular text due to the represrnation of painful memories that are stored away from the other more happier memories.
ReplyDeleteAs a freudian reading the text would be able to gain insight of the protganist of Gregor.Whereas as reader would have interpeated Gregor to be delusional.
Whereas Jung ideas of an 'inner space' could lead to another interpation of Grgeor transformation to an insect.In this partciular beilefs,dreams play an importance to a state of mind.
Reading offers many diverse interpations but the importance is their no correct interpation of a text.
Nicole Hall.
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ReplyDeleteSigmund Freud 1856 - 1939
ReplyDeleteSigmund Freud was born in Moravia, but raised in Vienna, Austria. He grew up to be one of the most well known names in the field of neurophysiology and his work forms the basis for a lot of what makes up today's psychological theories. Although he did not invent the idea of the conscious and unconscious mind he is credited with making it as popular as it is. His theories stated that:
The conscious mind is what we are aware of, such as perceptions, memories, thoughts, fantasies etc.
The preconscious is anything that is stored in our memories that we may not be aware of constantly but can be brought to our attention when necessary.
The unconscious mind contains our instincts, motivations and drives as well as memories too traumatic to be remembered.
To read a text from a Freudian perspective would be to read it according to Freud's theories. This would include considering how characters are trying to satisfy their id, physical needs and their superego, social requirements. Also, you would take note of any Freudian defence mechanisms expressed by either characters or the author, such as denial, repression or isolation among many others.
Carl Gustav Jung 1875 - 1961
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist with a great interest in mythology, ancient literature and religion. He was an admirer of Freud's work but he did not agree with it entirely.
Like Freud, he separates the mind into conscious and unconscious thought. The conscious being what we are aware of. Jung's unconscious definition, however is more like Freud's preconscious in that it contains both accessible and suppressed memories.
Where Jung's theory really starts to pull away from the others is the introduction of a collective unconsciousness that is shared by a whole species but no individual is entirely aware of. This influences all of our behaviour. Good demonstrations of this would be shared experiences such as deja vu, love at first sight or near death experiences. Jung’s theory states that within this collective unconsciousness there are archetypes that we seek to fill in our own lives. These include Mother and Father figures, the shadow or dark side of our personality, our persona or public image, our inner female or male (anima or animus) and the hero or ego, to name a few. Reading a text from a Jungian perspective would involve looking for characters or symbols that fit each of these archetypes.