Dynamic Psychology in Modernist British Fiction

by G. Johnson

Overview

Dynamic Psychology in Modernist British Fiction argues that literary critics have tended to distort the impact of pre-Freudian psychological discourses, including psychical research, on Modern British Fiction. Psychoanalysis has received undue attention over a more typical British eclecticism, embraced by now-forgotten figures including Frederic Myers and William McDougall. This project focuses on the Edwardian novelists most fully engaged by dynamic psychology, May Sinclair, and J.D. Beresford, but also reconsiders Arnold Bennett and D.H. Lawrence. The book concludes by demonstrating Woolf's subtle assimilation of pre-Freudian discourse.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403942289
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	10/06/2005
Edition description:	2006
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

GEORGE M. JOHNSON is Associate Professor of English at the Cariboo University College in British Columbia, Canada. He has edited three volumes of the Dictionary of Literary Biography on Modern British Novelists, and in 1998 published the first full-length study of J.D. Beresford. He has recently completed a mystery novel, The Absence of Freud, about a clash between late-Victorian working-class hypnotists and psychical researchers.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Preface Introduction PART1: PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY Consciousness and Idealism The Unconscious and Romantic Philosophy Dynamic Psychologies of Self Henri Bergson: The Metaphysics of Selfhood William McDougall: The Social Psyche 'here and now' PART 2: MEDICINE, MENTAL SCIENCE, AND PSYCHICAL RESEARCH Medicine: Hysteria and Hypnosis Pierre Janet's Dynamic Psychology Medical Psychology in Britain Mental Science in Britain Psychical Research PART 3: 'A PIECE OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS': BRITISH RESPONSES TO LATER DYNAMIC PSYCHOLOGY Introduction Pre-First World War Inter-War Years Post-War Years PART 4: MAY SINCLAIR: THE EVOLUTION OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL NOVELIST Sinclair's Psychological Artistry Selfhood and Sacrifice: Fiction 1897-1910 Sex and the Supernormal: Fiction 1911-1918 Repressions and Revolutions in Form: Fiction 1919-1922 PART 5: FROM EDWARDIAN TO GEORGIAN PSYCHICAL REALISM: BENNETT, LAWRENCE AND BERESFORD Mr. Bennett, Mrs. Brown, and 'a glimpse' at The Ghost D.H. Lawrence: Dynamic Consciousness and Allotropic States J.D. Beresford: A Case Study in Psychical Realism PART 6: 'THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE': VIRGINIA WOOLF'S RESPONSE TO DYNAMIC PSYCHOLOGY PART 7: DIVING DEEPER: DYNAMIC PSYCHOLOGY AND MODERN BRITISH LITERATURE Notes Works Cited Index

Editorial Reviews

'For scholars of British literary modernism, who focus on theories of the unconsious, selfhood and narrative, Dynamic Psychology is essential reading.' - Michael Lackey, Studies in the Novel

'...this study should receive serious consideration for two reasons: as a reassessment of the role psychical research played in the development of both modern psychology and modern literature and as a call for the renewed appreciation of neglected authors like Bennett, Beresford, and especially Sinclair.' - Andrew Kunka, Modern Fiction Studies

From the Publisher