Psychoanalysis.
2012 Oct;23(2):109-114.
Psychoanalysis and Literature: The Unconsciousness of the Creative Writers
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Hallym University, Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul, Korea. wooklee@medimail.co.kr
Abstract
- Writers and psychoanalysts have something in common in that they deal with life stories and many conflicts. No great masterpiece can be created without conflicts in the minds of great artists, as they often turn out to be patients suffering from severe psychic pains and conflicts. In particular, many creative writers suffered from inner conflicts and frustrations caused by the profound gap between their wishes and the reality, even though they eventually sublimated them into creative works. In that sense, one may argue that neurosis creates artists and art heals neurosis, hence the original source of great creativity is unconsciousness. Although both literary works and psychoanalysis deal with conflicts, the latter is distinguished from the other in that it attempts to seek solutions in deeply seated unconscious fantasies and conflicts rather than just posing questions without answering them.
