Application of Freudian Concepts to the Explication of Literary Texts: A Case Study of Walt Whitman’s “The Sleepers”.

Abstract

This article established and proved the age old relationship between
Psychology and Literature together with the application of Freudian
concepts to the explication of literary texts. The interest of literary critics
from Sigmund Freud to Jacques Lacan has been noticeable and remarkable in the field of psychoanalytic criticism. It is known that the closest connection between literature and psychoanalysis has always been deployed by the academic field of literary criticism or literary theory. Thus, this discussion, once again, endeavored to emphasize the importance of using the method of psychoanalysis to interpret literature and how literature has also used psychoanalysis for creative purposes. Moreover, this has assisted the artists, novelists, dramatists, and poets etc., to make use of this creative approach to enrich their own work. In order to re-emphasize this point, the researcher has selected Walt Whitman’s poem “The Sleepers” as a case study, since his approach or method is characteristic of psychoanalytic research. The discussion reviewed the prevailing fascination between the two disciplines of Psychology and Literature and has succeeded in bringing them together with
the powerful tool of literary criticism.

Key Words: Freudian concepts, literary criticism, psychoanalytic, conscious
mind, unconscious mind, experience.