Freud revolutionized the practice of psychology by emphasizing the importance of the unconscious, and introducing a three-level model of the mind (Simply Psychology). Freud believed that the unconscious is a, "reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that occur outside of our conscious awareness" (Cherry) and that the bulk of our behavior is affected by this portion of our mind. He then enhanced this idea by introducing a structural model of the functionality of the brain, which breaks human thought into three parts: id, ego, and superego. Id represents a human's instincts and desires, Superego represents their morality and societal principles, and Ego mediates between the two. He paired this structure with his previous notion of conscious vs. unconscious mind by stating that each section occurs and different levels of conscientiousness. The following diagram depicts that relation (Simply Psychology).
Although much of Freud's aforementioned work was widely accepted, other aspects were deemed controversial for their heavy focus on sexuality and suppressed sexual desires. Freud believed that children were born with a libido – a sexual urge – and that this developed in the form of these various stages throughout childhood: oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital (simple psychology). Freud's views of sexuality also included his widely controversial idea which he termed the Oedipus complex. This theory states that young children feel a sexual drive for their parent of the opposite sex, and subsequently a feeling of violence and resentment toward their parent of the same sex. Freud claims that the Oedipus complex is overcome once the child, "identifies with the parent of the same sex and represses its sexual instincts" (Oedipus Complex). These concepts are by far the most controversial out of Freud's ideology; however, they brought to light questions regarding sexuality that were subsequently examined by other modernists.
Freud's theories rejected the accepted perception of psychology at the time, and were typical of the avant-garde characteristic of modernism. Although his beliefs were modernist in their own standing, they also affected the works of other modernists. Authors and artists began to incorporate the popularized of the notion of the unconscious mind by, "exploring dreams, symbolism, and personal iconography as avenues for the depiction of their subjective experiences." (What is Modern Art?)
Once case in which we can directly see the influence of Freud upon modernist works is Picasso's painting Les Demoiselles D'Avignon shown above. The piece embodies two characteristics of Freud's work: an emphasis on sexuality, and a distortion of reality. Although Freud was criticized for his hyper-focus on sex, he was able to draw attention to a topic that was formerly regarded as taboo by society. This prompted other visionaries to explore sex and sexuality in their works, which is seen in this painting by Picasso.
I think it is interesting to examine this cross-section of psychology and modernist art. What is most fascinating is that the bulk of Freud's arguments are still relevant to this day, and are therefore still integrated in our literature and art. I feel like it's interesting that Freud's examination of conscious vs unconscious also parallels the difference between surface level content in literature, and that which can only be achieved through deeper analysis. In my opinion this poses an interesting question as to whether the meanings we draw from literature and text were consciously integrated by the artist, or if the elements were subconsciously incorporated.
Work Cited
Cherry, Kendra. "What is the Unconscious?" Verywell. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.
"Sigmund Freud Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.
Simply Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.
"Oedipus Complex." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2016
Picasso, Pablo. Les Demoiselles D'Avignon. 1907. Museum of Modern Art.
"What is Modern Art?" MoMA Learning. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2016
Your post was great and truly incorporated the studies and theories of Freud. One point you made that was thought provoking was the comment about how modernist texts tend to be on the surface level and whether artists consciously or subconsciously incorporate meanings to text. This is a very interesting question because when one goes over The 42nd Parallel, by John Dos Passos, one can see that the dialogue John Dos Passos writes is on surface and never goes deeper, so the language that he uses for particular characters could be conscious and is on the surface because he wants individuals to interpret that dialogue and attempt to see something below the surface of the character. Moreover, when I took Psychology 1, our professor strongly believed that an subconscious exists and influences our actions. I do agree with him and I do believe that a subconscious does exist and previous experience can lead an artist to unknowingly draw from that experience and crate art, such as reading new texts, that have left an imprint on the artist's mind at an unconscious level and is influencing their actions.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting aspect of the subconscious and deeper meaning is that a facet of Modernism is accepting art at face value as we saw with the urinal. This seems to contrast with Freud's philosophy of the subconscious but also makes sense as people's subconscious minds can pick up and interpret art in ways that their conscious is unable.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I think it would be interesting to explore how art becomes a reflection of the subconscious, with a particular focus on surrealist art. I find it fascinating how art and an individual's work product can be seen as an extension of their voice, even though they often do not feature speech. In a way this is what Dos Passos and Hurston do through their respective anecdotes as it almost seems as if certain section are not supposed to be read but felt.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I think it would be interesting to explore how art becomes a reflection of the subconscious, with a particular focus on surrealist art. I find it fascinating how art and an individual's work product can be seen as an extension of their voice, even though they often do not feature speech. In a way this is what Dos Passos and Hurston do through their respective anecdotes as it almost seems as if certain section are not supposed to be read but felt.
ReplyDeleteI think the greatest influence of psychology on the 42nd Parallel can be seen in the Camera Reel passages. A lot of them deal with feelings and are don't necessarily have a cogent narrative.
ReplyDeleteIn your post you talk about the modernist emphasis on sexuality. I wonder if you have any thoughts about how this relates to the portrayal of sexuality in The 42nd Parallel? There are certainly aspects throughout the novel that hint toward sexuality and then parts where sexuality is directly expressed through the actions of some characters.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you pointing out Freud's impact on psychology and how he took a taboo topic and tried to get people to talk about it. I think that is a super important aspect of the modernist movement, breaking out of comfort zones, going against the norms, and doing things that make people uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteI recently read an article that mentioned the connection of Freudian theories with modernist ideas, and wanted to do more research into it, so it's great that you did your blog post on this topic! It's interesting how novelists during this time were influenced by Freud's ideologies - rather than looking out into the world, Rather than looking out into the world, they looked at the inner space of the human mind.
ReplyDeleteI think that the relation of Freudian psychology to Modernism is extremely interesting! I feel that Freudian's focus on the passions and feelings of the human body really allowed Modernists to become more expressive, as the topic of sex wasn't as taboo as before; individuals were able to become more free in their thoughts and speech as a result. I also feel that Modernists could represent reality more accurately as well, since they were then able to represent emotions like lust as well.
ReplyDeleteYour post was very powerful- I think you were certainly right in saying that Freud crossed the boundaries of what was accepted during the time and postulated ideas that were taboo or controversial. Given that even today, Freud's ideas, especially about the Oedipus Complex, seem a little strange or weird, your example demonstrates what an impact his ideas must have made in a more conservative age.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I think Freud's theories really altered the way that we interpret and accept modern art. It's interesting, and unsurprising, that he gained recognition following War --I think it says a lot about how the changing political climate folloqing war shattered previous, perhaps more optimistic values which in turn made individuals more willing to accept more controversial ideas like Freud's.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this struggle between the conscious and unconscious relates with the common motif of the inability to speak or express one's thoughts in Modernist literature.
ReplyDeleteI think that Freud is very relevant to the modernist era in general, his work is was well known and it makes one wonder how much he influenced modernists art, music, novels etc. For example Stein's Melanctha had flat characters but perhaps inspired by Freud she was just presenting their ego, just the surface. Also Freud's emphasis on childhood events affecting people later in their lives is relevant to the fact that Doss Passos started every one of his characters stories with a moment in their childhood another example would be Janie's significant childhood events incorporated in the story, like when she realized she was black and watching the bees under the tree.
ReplyDeleteI definitely thought back to learning about stream of consciousness in my psych 1 course whenever I read the newsreels or camera eyes. You would have to spend a lot of time and close attention to detail to get meaning out of the flood of information, which is similar to dreams which often make no sense and rapidly change. I'd also easily forget these sections much how I would forget dreams. If I spent more time psychoanalyzing these passages, I wonder what I would discover about the text.
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