13: Psychodynamic Stories Flashcards
What is the Oedipus Complex? How does it relate to Freud’s theories?
Freud argued the Oedipus myth plays out as a script in the unconscious lives of every young boy.
A young boy’s “first love” is his mother. He invests libido (energy from the Id) into relationship.
What are the three elements of the Oedipus Complex?
Object choice: have another person in powerful way. Unconsciously, child wants mother all to himself.
Unconscious fear of castration anxiety: literal and symbolic, fear leads to desire to kill one’s father; requires defense mechanism to resolve.
Identification: become the other person. To resolve unconscious conflicts, young boys identify with father and adopt his qualities.
Freud’s (not so good) theory to explain development in women is the “Electra complex.” Describe its four stages.
Begins with identification / object choice with mother.
Girl discovers she is already castrated, blames mother for her “mutilated” condition.
Develops “penis envy” and shifts unconscious affections to father figure for a time.
Eventually resolves this complex by repressing attraction to her father and identifying with the mother.
Freud and sexism are long-standing. He sees women as what?
Passive, masochistic, envious of the male, less rational, weak super-ego. Supports patriarchal view.
How were Freud’s complexes emphasized in “Psycho”?
Norman Bates’ pathology: didn’t repress Oedipus complex, had no father figure to identify with.
Explain how the Oedipus complex relates to Yukio Mishima. Seppuku was, symbolically, what?
Fell in love with a muscular young boy at age 14. Unconsciously, became like him (identification), and then directed object choice to himself, instead of identifying with father and object choice for mother.
Sexual union with himself.
What are the four Freudian principles of interpretation?
Text: life stories can be interpreted like literary texts, no single complete interpretation of life stories.
Treaty: compromise among conflicting forces; human experience is a product of the compromise of many competing internal forces (Id, Ego, Superego).
Manifest Content: consciously known and experienced; in a story (or dream), the actual images and sensations described.
Latent Content▫: hidden unconscious meaning of a story; hidden forces, conflicts, impulses, wishes; ALWAYS more latent content than manifest content, even if it never become known.
List two methods of Freudian dream interpretation.
Overdetermination: all behaviour caused by many different unconscious, conflicting factors; manifest content just the tip of the iceberg.
Dream Work: each person draws upon storehouse of latent, unconscious material and fashions it into a manifest dream while they sleep.
List four ways we disguise the latent meaning of dreams. Provide examples.
Condensation: compress various latent elements into a single manifest image (e.g., dream about your father might be feelings about many different male authority figures).
Displacement: shifting emphasis from threatening to safe targets (e.g., you’re angry at a strange woman in your dream, when you’re really angry at your friend).
Symbolism: dreamer uses concrete images and actions that convey hidden but common meanings (e.g., dancing rather than sex).
Secondary Revision: tying everything together into one narrative plot; this smooth narrative is recalled as the manifest content of the dream.
How did Freud interpret the case of Dora? What was the most likely reason, in actuality?
Freud: Dora was aroused when Herr. K made advances. She repressed these feelings, the sensations were transformed into opposite emotions, and physical symptoms. Dora also had an oral fixation.
In actuality: Herr K. was sexually harassing, stalking, and sexually assaulting Dora; sexual abuse is a risk factor for somatic symptoms.
Carl Jung thought Freud placed too much emphasis on what?
Sex and aggression.
Jung expanded the unconscious with that two elements?
Personal Unconscious: as described by Freud, a result of our personal experiences in life.
Collective Unconscious: storehouse of unconscious memories from collective, evolutionary past. Presumably a portion of the unconscious shared by all humans.
Jung used his extensive knowledge of mythology and religion to show that there were certain themes that showed up where? What were these recurring themes?
Many different cultures.
Archetypes: universal patterns/predispositions that structure how all humans consciously and unconsciously adapt to their world.
Many Christians might use flood traditions as evidence for the Bible. From a Jungian perspective, the flood is an archetype. Why is this?
Fear of floods = primal fear faced by humans throughout evolutionary history, used symbolically to represent that fear.
Why are there so many mythological reptiles? How does this translate to today?
Reptiles are/were significant source of legitimate fear in in evolutionary history.
Today, snake and spider phobias among the most common.
