English Literature and Psychoanalysis in General

Psychoanalysis and Literature Narrative and Psychoanalytic Approaches to Mother Daughter Relationships in Literature There are several different types of narrative forms utilized by authors in texts and short stories to describe mother daughter relationships. Traditional forms include personal experience narratives where characters are traditionally well defined with personalities and unique identities. The extent to which modern authors have employed narrative techniques to create true to life characters has been well researched throughout history.

The aim of this study is to examine mother daughter relationships from not only a narrative perspective but also a psychoanalytic approach, to determine the extent to which psychoanalytic perspectives and theories may be applied to the mother daughter bond presented in many well-known literary works. The study aims to fill a gap in the research regarding mother daughter relationships currently available.

To that extent, the short stories of Katherine Mansfield will be compared to two novels created by Jamaica Kincaid, in order to offer a wide understanding of narrative technique employed in shorter and longer works. Background/Purpose of Study This study aims to examine mother daughter relationships from a narrative and psychoanalytic perspective in the works of two noted authors. I feel this examination will be useful in understanding mother daughter relationships in literary works from a new perspective.

I intend to investigate to what extend psychoanalytic theories can be applied to literary works, and evaluate how narrative forms are utilized in literary works describing mother daughter relationships to determine whether or not the authors effectively strengthen and define their characters via use of specific techniques. The use of personal voice is often employed by writers to convince the reader that the situation at hand is real.

Two authors will be examined for purposes of this study, Katherine Mansfield and Jamaica Kincaid, both of whom employ several different narrative techniques in the process of examining mother daughter relationships, including the use of personal voice. In many cases the writer invests something of themselves in the work to convince the reader of the authenticity of the characters. This is certainly the case in autobiographical works including fictional works derived from true to life situations.

Jamaica Kincaid is an exemplary model of an author who utilizes autobiographical techniques among others to define her characters. Katherine Mansfield is well-known for minimizing drama in her works while simultaneously raising psychological insight and perspective. Her techniques have been described in many ways. In her more recent works O'Sullivan points out that she employs a variety of techniques to build her plots up toward an epiphany in a plunging manner, as evidenced in Bliss and Daughters.

Mansfield includes "indirections, shifts of perspective, overlapping and modulations of time and imprecision's of mood and randomness" (O'Sullivan, 1975) to engage the reader. Helmut Bonheim confirms this technique of shifting modes by saying that a description can have many different modes imbedded within, including setting, manner of speaking and metaphors. This seems particularly valid when applied to Mansfield's works. Bonheim suggests however that authors such as Mansfield shift from more autobiographical description and authorial discussion to use of dynamic mode of speech and language.

This may be evidenced by Mansfield's mother figure Linda who uses language to express the attitude that she no longer loves her children and their attitudes. I will attempt to present a psychoanalytic explanation for the narrative forms presented in each of the authors works examined.

To that extend the theories of Montrelay in particular will be examined, particularly her "Inquiry into femininity" and her case study of Louise in "How Lacan's Ideas are Used in Clinical Practice." The psychoanalytic notions of femininity are strongly evidence in Kincaid's works, particularly as she examines the burgeoning growth of young women in a predominately male oriented society. Kincaid is perhaps one of the strongest and well-known writers for expounding upon feminist idealisms.

Literature Review Jamaica Kincaid reflects on the mother daughter relationship by discussing female identity as shaped by the male dominated world in which people live. She explores many themes including female bonding. Among the works that explore mother daughter relationships produced by Kincaid include Annie John and Lucy. These works in particular will be examined for purposes of this study. Kincaid uses autobiographical narrative technique to expand upon the idea of a daughter building a separate identity in the face of heavy influence from society.

She explores ideas including love and death, and examines cultural impacts on self-discovery. There are many feminist aspects prevalent in her works. The extent to which she utilizes a confessional technique, where she seeks to analyze the drives and needs that motivate characters by having them tell personal stories and confess strong feelings in which the characters sometimes aspire to atone for their ways, will also be explored in this work.

Understanding mother daughter relationships is important to understanding the interdependent association many young women have with their mothers as they grow older. The idea that a daughter is searching for autonomy yet facing inhibition of her own identity is prevalent in many works. Many novelists attempt to solve what is considered a complex problem related to mother daughter relationships. Carol Boyd discusses mothers and daughters in a similar fashion. In an article entitled: "Mothers and Daughters: A Discussion of Theory and Research" Ms.

Boyd focuses on the uniqueness of mother daughter relationships, and claims that many young daughters feel inhibited by their mothers yet intimately bound to them, suggesting deep psychological binds (Jishka, 2004). Boyd (1989) also admits that at some point daughters inevitably attempt to break away from the mother daughter relationships in order to create their own identity.

This sociological and psychoanalytic approach to mother daughter relationships is also evidenced by Nancy Chodorow as Boyd points out in her work, who states that "the mother is the early care giver and primary source of identification for all children" (Boyd, 1989, p.292, from Jishka, 2004). Boyd also cites Fischer who conducted research that maintains that mothers and daughters continue to identify with each other yet struggle to separate themselves from one another throughout the course of time (Boyd, 1989; from Jishka, 2004). This idea is commonly examined by psychoanalytic theorists and sociologists.

Part of the aim of this research is to uncover the extent to which Mansfield and Kincaid expand upon these ideas regarding the mother-daughter bond in their works. Methodology The methodology I intend to employ will include qualitative analysis of literary works and psychoanalytic theories combined as part of an exploratory research project. A purely experimental methodology is impossible in this type of investigation because of the nature of historical works of literature. The study is primarily exploratory in nature, thus quantitative analysis is not feasible.

To establish a relationship between psychoanalytic perspective and narrative form,.