Literature and the Relational Self

222 Pages·1993·88.318 MB·English

by  Barbara Ann Schapiro

Literature and the Relational Self
Literature and Psychoanalysi s
General Editor: Jeffrey Berman
1. The Beginning of Terror: A Psychological Study of Rainer Maria
Rilke's Life and Work
by David Kleinbard
2. Loathsome Jews and Engulfing Women: Metaphors of Projection in
the Works ofWyndham Lewis, Charles Williams, and Graham Green
by Andrea Freud Loewenstein
3. Literature and the Relational Self
by Barbara Ann Schapiro
Literature an d th e
Relational Sel f
Barbara Ann Schapiro
n
New York University Press
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
Copyright © 1994 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schapiro, Barbara A.
Literature and the relational self / Barbara Ann Schapiro.
p. cm . — (Literature and psychoanalysis ; 3)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8147-7969-7 (alk. paper)
1. Psychoanalysis and literature. 2 . Self in Literature.
3. Objec t relations (Psychoanalysis) in literature.
4. Interpersona l relations in literature. I . Title. II . Series.
PN56.P92S33 199 3
809'. 93353—dc20 93-1287 9
CIP
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Ed Nancy Ellen, and Jane.
y y
And to Scotty Owen and Mira.
y y

Contents
Foreword by Jeffrey Berma n i x
Acknowledgments x v
1. Introductio n 1
The Relational Paradigm 1
Psychoanalytic Relational Concepts: An Overview 5
The Relational Model and Feminist Theory 1 4
Transitional Phenomena, Creativity, and Culture 2 0
Applications to Literary Criticism 2 2
2. Wordswort h and the Relational Model of Mind 2 9
3. Th e Rebirth of Catherine Earnshaw: Splitting and
Reintegration of Self in Wuthering Heights 4 6
4. Gender , Self, and the Relational Matrix: D. H. Lawrenc e
and Virginia Woolf 6 2
5. Boundarie s and Betrayal in Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea 8 4
6. Updike , God, and Women: The Drama of the Gifted Child 10 5
7. Interna l World and the Social Environment: Toni Morrison's
Beloved 12 7
8. An n Beattie and the Culture of Narcissism 14 4
vn
viii Contents
9. Desir e and Uses of Illusion: Alice Hoffman' s
Seventh Heaven 16 0
10. Afterwor d 18 0
Notes 18 3
Works Cited 18 9
Index 19 7
Foreword
As New York University Pres s inaugurates a new series of books o n
literature and psychoanalysis, it seems appropriate to pause and reflec t
briefly upon the history of psychoanalytic literary criticism. For a century
now i t has struggled t o defin e it s relationship t o it s two contentiou s
progenitors and come of age. After glancing at its origins, we may be in
a better position to speculate on its future.
Psychoanalytic literary criticism was conceived at the precise moment
in which Freud, reflecting upon his self-analysis, made a connection to
two plays and thus gave us a radically new approach to reading literature.
Writing to his friend Wilhelm Fliess in 1897, Freud breathlessly advanced
the idea that "love of the mother and jealousy of the father" are universal
phenomena of early childhood (Origins, 223-24) . He referred immedi -
ately to the gripping power of Oedipus Rex and Hamlet fo r confirmation
of, an d perhap s inspiratio n for , hi s compellin g perceptio n o f famil y
drama, naming his theory the "Oedipus complex" after Sophocles' leg-
endary fictional hero.
Freud acknowledge d repeatedl y hi s indebtedness t o literature, my -
thology, an d philosophy. Ther e i s no doub t tha t h e was a great hu -
manist, steepe d in world literature , abl e to read several languages an d
range acros s disciplinar y boundaries . H e regarde d creativ e writers a s
allies, investigating the same psychic terrain and intuiting similar human
truths. "[PJsycho-analyti c observatio n mus t concede priority o f imag -
IX