Focuses on the psychological dimensions of prominent literary texts. Canvasses the complex relationship between literature and psychology from a broad range of perspectives.
While literature is inherently interdisciplinary, the relationship between literature and psychology is perhaps particularly intimate. Reading takes us into the minds of characters, and these characters - like the humans upon whom they are modelled - frequently face a range of psychological challenges. In response, they may develop characterological adaptations that can generate problems in psychological functioning - problems that affect not just the characters themselves, but also those with whom they stand in relation.
In this paper, we read a range of literary texts with a view to understanding - both analytically and empathetically - some of these problems and adaptions, as well the changing ways in which they have been addressed by the clinical profession. Thus the paper begins with a critical analysis of the treatment of "madness" via conventional psychiatric institutions, before turning to the power of psychoanalysis in addressing questions such as trauma, narcissism, and impaired forms of relationality. Further, instead of simply considering these "pathologies" the property of individuals, the paper adopts a psychosocial lens to emphasise the broader social dimensions underpinning maladapted psychological formations, as well as their (frequently unconscious) transgenerational transmission. It concludes with a reflection on the little or big "madnesses" that may lie hidden within the very fabric of what is considered to be "sane" and "normal" in Western society.
At the end of this paper, students will have greater awareness of, and be able to reflect more deeply about, the psychological dimenions at work in literary texts and sociocultural discourses more broadly.
| Paper title | Reading Minds: Literature and Psychology |
|---|---|
| Paper code | ENGL353 |
| Subject | English |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $955.05 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- One 200-level ENGL paper or 54 points
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Contact
- simone.drichel@otago.ac.nz
- More information link
View more information on the English and Linguistics Programme website
- Teaching staff
Course Convenor: Dr Simone Drichel
Other lecturing staff: to be advised- Paper Structure
Assessment for this paper consists of one creative response (1,250 - 1,500 words), a research essay (2,500 words), and a final exam (3 hours).
- Teaching Arrangements
Two 1-hour lectures per week.
1-hour tutorials at pre-announced times (eight in total).- Textbooks
- Ken Kesey, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Penguin)
- Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway (Penguin)
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein [1818 text] (Oxford)
- Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl (Phoenix)
- Alison Bechdel, Fun Home (Mariner)
- Celeste Ng, Everything I Never Told You (Penguin)
- J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace (Vintage)
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Ethics, Research.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
ENGL 353 aims to:
- Present a selection of literary texts in relation to questions of psychology
- Develop skills in various aspects of literary study, including theoretical tools and terms for analysis
- Address aspects of essay writing, research and expression
