Psychological Novelists PDF
Preview Psychological Novelists
Critical Survey of Long Fiction Psychological Novelists Editor Carl Rollyson Baruch College, City University of New York Salem Press Ipswich, Massachusetts • Hackensack, New Jersey (c) 2012 Salem Press. All Rights Reserved. Cover photo: Monaco (© Swim Ink 2, LLC/Corbis) Copyright © 2012, by Salem Press, A Division of EBSCO Publishing, Inc. Allrightsinthisbookarereserved.Nopartofthisworkmaybeusedorreproducedin anymannerwhatsoeverortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicorme- chanical,includingphotocopy,recording,oranyinformationstorageandretrievalsys- tem,withoutwrittenpermissionfromthecopyrightowner.Forinformation,contactthe publisher, EBSCO Publishing, 10 Estes Street, Ipswich, MA 01938. 978-1-58765-933-1 (c) 2012 Salem Press. All Rights Reserved. CONTENTS Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv PsychologicalLongFiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 AyiKweiArmah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 HermannBroch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 JeanCocteau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 JoséDonoso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 IvanGoncharov. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 ShirleyAnnGrau. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 JaneHamilton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 BessieHead. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 FranzKafka. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 MadamedeLaFayette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 ClariceLispector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 MalcolmLowry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 HughMacLennan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 KateO’Brien . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 AmosOz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 WalkerPercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 DorothyRichardson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 LaurenceSterne. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 AugustStrindberg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 AnthonyTrollope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 RobertPennWarren. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 AngusWilson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 GlossaryofLiteraryTerms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 GuidetoOnlineResources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 GeographicalIndex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 SubjectIndex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 iii (c) 2012 Salem Press. All Rights Reserved. CONTRIBUTORS ThomasBanks JohnD.Lyons JohnK.Saunders OhioNorthernUniversity OriginalContributor OriginalContributor CynthiaA.Bily CharlesE.May JanSjåvik Adrian,Michigan CaliforniaStateUniversity, OriginalContributor LongBeach RandiBirn KatherineSnipes OriginalContributor LaurenceW.Mazzeno OriginalContributor AlverniaCollege J.MadisonDavis WilliamB.Stone OriginalContributor SallyMitchell OriginalContributor OriginalContributor ThomasDiNapoli StanSulkes OriginalContributor RobertA.Morace OriginalContributor DaemenCollege MargotK.Frank RonaldG.Walker OriginalContributor GeorgeO’Brien OriginalContributor OriginalContributor SheilaGolburghJohnson JaquelynW.Walsh SantaBarbara,California JanetPérez McNeeseStateUniversity OriginalContributor HarlandW.JonesIII JamesWhitlark UniversityofSouthCarolina DorothyDodgeRobbins TexasTechUniversity LouisianaTechUniversity AnnaB.Katona RogerE.Wiehe OriginalContributor JosephRosenblum OriginalContributor OriginalContributor RebeccaKuzins Pasadena,California iv (c) 2012 Salem Press. All Rights Reserved. Psychological Long Fiction Fromtheancientbeliefinhumorstothetwentiethandtwenty-firstcenturies’psycho- analyticandpharmacologicalmethodologies,diversetheoriesaboutthemindhaveaf- fectedtheliteraryproductionofnovelists.Categorizationaccordingtothesetheoriesis difficult, because authors tend to mix them and use more than they admit. Hermann Hesse’sworks,forexample,begantooverflowwiththeanalyticalpsychologyofCarl Jungafterthelattertreatedhim,yetHessetendedtobelittlethatinfluenceandspokeofbe- ingclosertoSigmundFreud.Consequently,psychologicallongfictionismosteasilycat- egorizednotaccordingtomedicaltheoriesbutaccordingtofourliterarytechniques:play- fuletiology,unrepentantconfession,streamofconsciousness,andKafkaesquefantasy. Playfuletiology CharlesBaudelaire’snovellaLaFanfarlo(1847;theflaunter)attributestheidiosyn- crasiesoftheprotagonist,SamuelCramer,tohismixedparentage(GermanandChilean), hisFrencheducation,andhisheaven-bestowedpartialgenius.Baudelaireisthuspractic- ingetiology—diagnosingthecausesofacondition—butnotwiththeseriousnessaphysi- cianwouldadopt.Instead,heexplainsaconditionthroughawhimsicalmixtureofratio- nales based on nature, nurture, and God. Such jocular syncretism (or, indeed, any extensive etiology) is common in fiction only from the eighteenth century onward. In Ovid’sMetamorphoses(c.8c.e.;Englishtranslation,1567),Myrrha’sincestuouspassion forherfathercreatesthekindofsituationthatlaterfascinatedpsychologists,butthenarra- torsimplycommentsonthatpassionascriminalanddisgustingwithoutinvestigatingwhy Myrrha had such an unusual craving. Presumably, fate or the gods are somehow responsible. Withtheriseofthesciencesintheeighteenthcentury,however,tacitreferencetosu- pernaturalinfluencewasnotenoughtoexplainpersonalitydifferences.BeforetheRo- manticismoftheearlynineteenthcentury,thecharacterstobediagnosedseldomdeviated farfromnormalityandthuswerelittleinneedoflavishelucidation.Thereafter,however, neurotics and psychotics began multiplying through a growing interest in extreme expressionsofindividuality. Todemonstratethisindividuality,authorsmustatsomepointdiagnosecharacters’de- viancefromthenorm;paradoxically,sincewhatcanbethuscatalogedisnotuniquelyin- dividual,theauthorsmustalsoshowadistastefordiagnosisitself.InWashingtonSquare (1880),HenryJames’snarratordetailsthecharacters’psychologicalquirksquitedirectly, yetthestoryturnsagainstsuchinsights.TheshrewdDoctorSloper,knownfordiagnosing intoomuchdetail,ruinshisdaughter’slifebyexposingherfiancé’stemperament.Inlater works,Jamescontinuestoprovideetiologicalinformation,butitisfilteredthroughpoints ofviewthatrenderitambiguous,asinhisnovellaTheTurnoftheScrew(1898),which neverestablisheswhetheritsghostsarerealorsymptomsofagoverness’shysteria. 1 (c) 2012 Salem Press. All Rights Reserved. PsychologicalLongFiction CriticalSurveyofLongFiction Evenmorecomplexly,thenarratorofThomasMann’sDoktorFaustus:DasLebendes deutschenTonsetzersAdrianLeverkühn,erzähltvoneinemFreunde(1947;DoctorFau- stus:TheLifeoftheGermanComposerAdrianLeverkühnasToldbyaFriend,1948)tries todemonstratethatthegeniusandmentalillnessofthecomposerAdrianLeverkühnare symptomsofbothGermany’sbrillianceanditsdegeneration.Moreover,thenarrator’s manneredproseundercutsfaithinhisjudgments.AsMann’sessaysalsodemonstrate,he consideredthecomplexityoflifetotranscendsimplecategories.Onasomewhatlessso- phisticatedlevel,hismethod(obsessiveuseofetiology,yetskepticismaboutitsconclu- sions)alsoappearsinmanythrillers,includingThomasHarris’sRedDragon(1981)and TheSilenceoftheLambs(1988).Intheseworks,bothapsychoanalyst-turned-cannibal and the investigating detectives employ psychological profiling. To this guesswork (whichisnotalwaysaccurate),Harriscounterpointspervasivereligiousimagery,meantto givetheevilanapocalypticquality,butwithoutreducingittoanysingletheory,either psychologicalortheological. InAgainstInterpretation,andOtherEssays(1966),SusanSontagcombatsthepsy- chologicalandparticularlythebiographicalstudyofliterature.Accordingly,shepeoples hernovelswithmisfitsonwhomshecommentsinamannerthatismoreaparodyofpsy- chologythanarelianceonit.Comparably,ThomasPynchontookimageryfromJung’s psychologicalintroductiontotheTibetanBookoftheDeadandtravestieditinhiscomic novelTheCryingofLot49(1966).AsdoothersofPynchon’sfictions,ittreatsallanalysis asitselfaformofparanoia.Causingcontroversy,theNewNovelistAlainRobbe-Grillet placedobviousallusionstoOedipus(abasicpatternintheFreudiansystem)throughout LesGommes(1953;TheErasers,1964);hedeniedpubliclythattheywerethere.Inheres- says,NathalieSarraute,anotherNewNovelist,hasexplainedthathercharacterizationde- scribestropisms(behaviorswithwhichpeopletrytocontroloneanother),butshebelieves thatnodepthsliebeneaththese.Citationsofpsychologicaldiagnosesmerelytodenyor ridiculethemoccuronapopularlevelinsuchnovelsasKenKesey’sOneFlewoverthe Cuckoo’s Nest (1962), in which the character Nurse Ratched embodies a health care systemeagertolabelpatientsasawayofdemeaningandbullyingthem. Unrepentantconfession Inclassicpsychoanalysis,discoveringetiologyislargelythedoctor’srole.Thepatient engagesinasecularformofconfession,asaresultofwhich(unlikethereligiousversion) nooneisrequiredtorepent.Literaturehasfollowedasimilarpath.InFyodorDostoev- ski’s Zapiski iz podpolya (1864; Letters from the Underworld, 1913; better known as NotesfromtheUnderground),thenarrator’salmostgloatingself-exposure,withoutpur- gationorsalvation,brokewithChristiancontritionandsetamodelfortwentiethcentury confessionalfiction.AccordingtoliterarytheoristMikhailBakhtin,Dostoevski’slater novels,attheirbest,consistofadialogueofvoicespresentedwithoutacommentingnar- rator.ThiswouldmakeDostoevski’sworksconfessionalthroughout,but,asBakhtinad- 2 (c) 2012 Salem Press. All Rights Reserved. PyschologicalNovelists PsychologicalLongFiction mits, Dostoevski sometimes resorts to diagnosis and etiology, as in the epilogue to Prestupleniye i nakazaniye (1866; Crime and Punishment, 1886), with an obtrusive psychologybasedonChristianity. At the beginning of the twentieth century, André Gide’sL’Immoraliste (1902; The Immoralist,1930)tooktheconfessionalmodefurthertowardthesecular.Untilnearthe book’sconclusion,itsprotagonist,Michel,isunawareofhishomosexuality,sohecannot divulgeit,exceptbyreportingbehaviorheunderstandslessthandothereaders.Further- more,sincehomosexualityinthenovelisnotanactionbutatendency,itisnot,inChris- tianterms,asin;despitetheguiltitinstills,itdoesnotseemsusceptibletopurgation.By persuasively associating the human condition with embarrassing impulses, The Im- moralistsetsadespairingtoneforFrenchfiction. ThistonecontinuedatleastaslateasAlbertCamus’sLaChute(1956;TheFall,1957). Itsprotagonist,Jean-BaptisteClamence,isunwillingtoriskhislifetosaveadrowning man.Disillusionedbyhisowncowardice,Clamenceabandonsconventionalbehaviorand slipsintocruelty,intentonconvincingeveryonethathisimperfectionspringsfromanin- eradicablestrainwithinhumanityitself:afallforwhichthereisnosavior.LikeMichel’s homosexuality,Clamence’ssadismisoneoftheconditionsthatthefirsthalfofthetwenti- ethcenturybroughttopsychologicalattention.Thatage,shockedbytherepressed,ap- pearsagaininKazuoIshiguro’snostalgicnovels.Theyshowhowreluctantpeoplewereto discovertheirowndestructiveness,asshowninthedisguisedsadomasochisticrelation- shipbetweenSachikoandMarikoinAPaleViewofHills(1982),orintheself-delusions ofcharacterChristopherBanksinWhenWeWereOrphans(2000).AlthoughFreudar- guedthataggressiveandsensualdrivesmightbesublimatedintoculturalachievements, novelists,alongwiththepublic,tendedtobedismayedatpsychology’sdisclosureofan unconsciouspronetoirrationality. WiththeexceptionofsuchnostalgicworksasIshiguro’s,confessionalfictionsinthe twentiethcentury’ssecondhalfwerenotaseasilydismayedbyimplacableinstincts.In AnthonyBurgess’sAClockworkOrange(1962;reprintedwithfinalchapter,1986),the narrator,Alex,isarapistandmurdererwhoistreatedwithaversiontherapysothathebe- comesnauseatedatthethoughtofsexorviolence.Inotherwords,hehasbeencoerced intobeingasrepressedasastereotypicalVictorian.Readersareexpectedtocondemnhis psychological castration. In a victory of free will, however, he overthrows the conditioningandreturnstocommittingmayhem. Comparably,inOrsonScottCardandKathrynH.Kidd’sLovelock(1994),thenarrator isanartificiallyenhancedcapuchinmonkey,who,likeAlex,mustovercomehiscondi- tioningtobecapableofsexandviolence.Here,evenmoreclearlythaninAClockwork Orange,evilisananimalsideofthemindtobefreed.Liberationofthebestialpermeates many first-person works that were popular in the 1960’s, such as Jack Kerouac’s The Dharma Bums (1958) and John Barth’s Giles Goat-Boy: Or, The Rev. New Syllabus (1966).AlthoughmoreconsciousofevilthanKerouac,Barthmakespsychologicalliber- 3 (c) 2012 Salem Press. All Rights Reserved. PsychologicalLongFiction CriticalSurveyofLongFiction ationsoundrelativelyinnocentcomparedwithBurgess,whoseacuteawarenessofhuman destructivenessismoretypicalofBritishfiction,suchasJ.G.Ballard’sCrash(1973), whichisabouttakingsadomasochisticjoyinautomobileaccidents. Perhapsbecausethenatureofdramapredisposesittopublicrituals,insuchplaysas PeterShaffer’sEquus(pr.,pb.1973)andincountlessfilms,psychoanalysisitselfformsa settingforconfession.Infirst-personfiction,however,theclosestanalogytoitistherela- tionshipbetweennarratorandreader.Whenpsychoanalyst-likefiguresarepresentinfic- tion,theyareoftendisguisedtoemphasizeeitherthenegativeorpositiveassociationsof psychiatry.Thus,freshfromaproductivetherapywithJung,Hessemadetherebellious, precocioustitlecharacterofDemian(1919;Englishtranslation,1923)intoitsnarrator’s unofficialanalyst.Similarly,inJ.D.Salinger’sGlassfamilysaga(suchasinSeymour:An Introduction,1963),althoughfamilymemberssometimesfindthemselvesonapsychia- trist’scouch,theolderbrothers,oneofwhomcommitssuicide,combinethefunctionsof guruandtherapist.Whethertheanalystisacannibalorafriendwhohelpspeoplelivewith theirsins,theprocesshaslesstodowithpenitenceandforgivenessthanwithproviding thereadersentertaininglyshockingrevelationsaboutwhatJosephConrad,inhis1902 novelofthesamename,termedhumanity’s“heartofdarkness.” Streamofconsciousness AccordingtoKeithM.May,streamofconsciousness—anattempttorepresentbarely consciousthinking—belongstoarelativelybriefperiodwhenthetwoworldwarsledpeo- ple to once again recognize human irrationality. Significantly, May omits mention of ÉdouardDujardin’sstream-of-consciousnessnovelLesLaurierssontcoupés(1887,se- rial;1888,book;We’lltotheWoodsNoMore,1938;alsoknownasTheBaysAreSere, 1991),whichwaspublishedgenerationsbeforeWorldWarI.Moreperceptively,Dorrit Cohncontendsthatungrammaticalfragmentsinstreamofconsciousnessapproximatea deepstratumofthemind,sincethepsycholinguistLevVygotskyhasdemonstratedsuch incoherencetobeitsnature. According to Shiv Kumar, psychologist-philosopher William James originated the phrase“streamofconsciousness”in1890,butitwasintroducedtoliterarycriticismina 1918 article by May Sinclair about the novels of Dorothy Richardson. In Pilgrimage (1938, 1967), Richardson confines herself to her protagonist’s consciousness, without providingthecustomaryinformationreadersexpectearlyinabook.Fiftypagesintothe novel,thereaderlearnsthecharacterisateenager.AsKatherineMansfielddidforthe shortstory,RichardsonbroughttotheEnglishnovelthetechniqueofstreamofconscious- ness,whosemajorpractitionerswereVirginiaWoolf,JamesJoyce,andWilliamFaulkner. ThefirstofWoolf’snovelstoemploythetechniqueisJacob’sRoom(1922),aboutthe lifeofanEnglishmanwhodiesinWorldWarI.Itrepeatedlymarkscharacters’inattention totraditionalreligionevenwhenchurchbellschimeinthebackground.(Hergeneration associatedstreamofconsciousnesswithaworldthatwasreplacingtheologywithpsy- 4 (c) 2012 Salem Press. All Rights Reserved. PyschologicalNovelists PsychologicalLongFiction chology.)Byfocusingonasingleday,hernextnovel,Mrs.Dalloway(1925),achieves greaterintensityinthedepictionofrelativelyplotlessmentalflux.Aunifyingelement, though, is repeated reference to Septimus Smith, who consults a psychiatristand kills himselftoavoidanotherphysician.Onanextremelevel,hissuicideparallelstheimpor- tancethatinternaleventshavefortheothercharacters. Althoughstreamofconsciousnessmeanssomethingslightlydifferentineachnovel- ist’sworks,Joyceshowsthegreatestrangeoftechniques.InhisAPortraitoftheArtistasa YoungMan(serial1914-1915,book1916),mostsectionsareinthirdperson,buttheyare soattunedtotheirprotagonist’sdevelopingmindthattheyrangefrombabytalk(inthe earlierones)totheeruditionofaneducatedyoungman(intheconcludingones).Joyce’s Ulysses(1922),however,unifieseachsectionbyparodyingsomegenreorstyle,suchas journalisticproseorexpressionistdrama.Thelastsection,renderingthemindofMolly Bloomasshefallsasleep,isaflowofwordswithoutpunctuationthatparticularlysuitsthe term “stream of consciousness.” Her monologue should not be confused with works whoseauthorssimplyprovidetheirownmusings. InthefirstdraftofOntheRoad(1957),Kerouac,atmaximumspeed,wrotethewhole workasasingle,uneditedsentencetoachievespontaneousself-revelation.Incontrast, JoyceisdistancinghimselffromMolly’sirrationalityandsomnolence.Ifstreamofcon- sciousness means representation of one mind at a time, then Joyce’s monumental last work,FinnegansWake(1939),hasmovedbeyondittoaverynonluciddreamthattakes incoherencealmosttounintelligibility.ItsreadersentersomethinglikeJung’scollective unconscious:thewholehumanrace’sheritageofsymbols. AftertreatingJoyce’sdaughter,JungmisunderstoodevenUlysses,whichheconsid- ered the spontaneous outpourings of hereditary madness, exacerbated by alcohol. Al- thoughnoproofofitsauthors’insanity,theincoherenceofstreamofconsciousnesscan wellportraycharacters’mentalaberrations.ThefirstsectionofFaulkner’sTheSoundand the Fury (1929) records the barely comprehended sensory impressions occurring to Benjy,anidiot.Readersthenencounterthementalcontentsofotherwitnessestothesame story,includingayoungmanwhokilledhimselfbecauseofincestuousfeelingsforhissis- ter.Similarly,inFaulkner’snextnovel,AsILayDying(1930),Darl,aclairvoyantheaded towardmadness,isthecharacterwhosemindismostoftensampled.Althoughinterestin streamofconsciousnesswasfosteredbytheriseofpsychology,thetechniqueitselfim- pliesthatamindisbeingobservednotclinicallybuttelepathically;thus,Darl’sclairvoy- ancehasmuchincommonwiththosewhowriteorreadstreamofconsciousness. Streamofconsciousnessbeganattractinganewgenerationofwritersattheendofthe twentiethcentury.TwoexamplesarePatrickMcCabe,whosenarratorinTheButcherBoy (1992)isayoungboywhodealswithatroubledfamilybyretreatingtoafantasyworld, andIrvineWelsh,whoseTrainspotting(1993)isnarratedbyseveraldrugusersfromthe sametown.Novelsthatemploywordplay,nonlinearstructure,andfootnotesinadditionto streamofconsciousnessincludeMarkZ.Danielewski’sHouseofLeaves(2000),Jona- 5 (c) 2012 Salem Press. All Rights Reserved.
The list of books you might like
