On Freud's Literary Thought

Freud was a well-known psychiatrist of the early 20* century. He founded the psychoanalysis, holding that the dominant in human's mental activities was the unconsciousness and the instinctive drive of sexual desire was the source of energy for spiritual activities as well as the source for literary and creation -art, in nature, was a distillation of the suppressed sexual drive. Freud also believed that dreams were the satisfaction of suppressed desires and artistic creation was similar to daydream. In his theory of libido and personality, he developed the Oedipus complex and used it to interpret literary works and their authors. These theories came from his deep understanding and sympathy of human nature, showing his experimental inquiry on the basis of his high respect for individual being.Freud's theories were inherited by other members of the psychoanalytical school such as Lacan and Holland, who separately set up the structural psychoanalytical criticism and readers-response psychoanalytical criticism. They laid their stress on the human nature of being social, making inquiry into the reading process, on the research of the language of literary texts, form structure and relationship between authors and their readers, which had made psychoanalysis spread into a wider field.Freud's literary thoughts had produced greater influence greater influence on the world literature of the 20^ century. Both western and Chinese authors and sects have more or less borne Ihe color of psychoanalysis in their practices of literary creation and criticism. Their works have gone deep into the sheltered sexual psychology and the unconscious system, emphasized man's instinctive desires, given prominence to the conflict of soul and body, depicted the twisted sexual desires and exposed Ihe evil side of humanity, which in turn makes literary works explore at a deeper level into the minds of characters and objectively urges literature to show more concern and deeper understanding into the human mental world.