The Analyst’s Ear and the Critic’s Eye: Rethinking psychoanalysis and literature

112 Pages·2013·1.51 MB·English

by  Benjamin H. Ogden

The Analyst’s Ear and the Critic’s Eye is the first volume of literary criticism to be
Benjamin H. Ogden
co-authored by a practicing psychoanalyst and a literary critic. The result of
this unique collaboration is a lively conversation that not only demonstrates
and Thomas H. Ogden
what is most fundamental to each discipline, but creates a joint perspective on
reading literature that neither discipline alone can achieve.
This book radically redefines the relationship between psychoanalysis and T h e
literary studies in a way that revitalizes the conversation between the two
fields. This is achieved, in part, by providing richly textured descriptions of
analytic work. These clinical illustrations bring to life the intersubjective
dimension of analytic practice, which is integral to the book’s original
conception of psychoanalytic literary criticism. In their readings of seminal
works of American and European literature, the authors address questions
A n a l y s t ’ s
that are fundamental to psychoanalysis, literary studies and the future of
psychoanalytic literary criticism:
• What is psychoanalytic literary criticism?
• Which concepts are most fundamental to psychoanalytic theory?
• What is the role of psychoanalytic theory in reading literature? E a r
• How does an analyst’s clinical experience shape the way he reads?
• How might literary critics make use of the analyst’s experience with
his patients?
• What might psychoanalysts learn from the ways professional literary
critics read?
a n d t h e
This volume provides cutting-edge work that will breathe new life into B
psychoanalytic ways of reading, free from technical language, yet drawing e
n
upon what is most fundamental to psychoanalytic theory and practice. It will ja
m
be of great interest to mental health professionals, literary scholars and those
in
studying psychoanalysis and literature.
H
. O C r i t i c ’ s
Benjamin H. Ogden earned his Bachelor’s Degree in English at New York
g
University, USA, and his Doctorate Degree in English Literature at Rutgers d
e
University, USA. He has published articles on works by Beckett, Coetzee, n
Faulkner, Roth and others. a
n
d
Thomas H. Ogden is a Supervising and Personal Analyst at the T
h E y e
Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California, USA. He has written numerous o
m
books and articles on psychoanalysis and literary criticism that have been
a
translated into nineteen languages. He received the Sigourney Award in 2012. s
H
. O
g
d
e
n
PSYCHOANALYSIS
Rethinking
psychoanalysis
www.routledgementalhealth.com and literature
Routledge titles are available as eBook editions in a range of digital formats
The Analysts Ear FAW.indd 1-3 07/02/2013 13:40
The Analyst’s Ear and
the Critic’s Eye
The Analyst’s Ear and the Critic’s Eye is the fi rst volume of literary criticism to be co-
authored by a practicing psychoanalyst and a literary critic. The result of this unique
collaboration is a lively conversation that not only demonstrates what is most funda-
mental to each discipline, but creates a joint perspective on reading literature that
neither discipline alone can achieve.
T his book radically redefi nes the relationship between psychoanalysis and literary
studies in a way that revitalizes the conversation between the two fi elds. This is
achieved, in part, by providing richly textured descriptions of analytic work. These
clinical illustrations bring to life the intersubjective dimension of analytic practice,
which is integral to the book’s original conception of psychoanalytic literary criti-
cism. In their readings of seminal works of American and European literature, the
authors address questions that are fundamental to psychoanalysis, literary studies, and
the future of psychoanalytic literary criticism:
• What is psychoanalytic literary criticism?
• Which concepts are most fundamental to psychoanalytic theory?
• What is the role of psychoanalytic theory in reading literature?
• How does an analyst’s clinical experience shape the way he reads?
• How might literary critics make use of the analyst’s experience with his patients?
• W hat might psychoanalysts learn from the ways professional literary c ritics read?
This volume provides cutting-edge work that will breathe new life into psychoanalytic
ways of reading, free from technical language, yet drawing upon what is most funda-
mental to psychoanalytic theory and practice. It will be of great interest to mental
health professionals, literary scholars and those studying psychoanalysis and literature.
Benjamin H. Ogden earned his Bachelor’s Degree in English at New York University,
USA, and his Doctorate Degree in English Literature at Rutgers University, USA. He
has published articles on works by Beckett, Coetzee, Faulkner, Roth, and others.
Thomas H. Ogden is a Supervising and Personal Analyst at the Psychoanalytic
Institute of Northern California, USA. He has written numerous books and articles
on psychoanalysis and literary criticism that have been translated into nineteen lan-
guages. He received the Sigourney Award in 2012.
This page intentionally left blank
The Analyst’s Ear and
the Critic’s Eye
Rethinking psychoanalysis
and literature
Benjamin H. Ogden and
Thomas H. Ogden
First published 2013
by Routledge
27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 B. H. Ogden and T. H. Ogden
The right of B. H. Ogden and T. H. Ogden to be identifi ed as authors of
this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Disclaimer : Every effort has been made to identify the owners of
copyrights and to obtain permission to reproduce copyrighted material.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Ogden, Benjamin H.
The analyst’s ear and the critic’s eye : rethinking psychoanalysis and
literature / Benjamin H. Ogden and Thomas H. Ogden.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Psychoanalysis and literature. 2. English literature—History and
criticism. 3. American literature—History and criticism. I. Ogden,
Thomas H. II. Title.
PN56.P92O55 2013
809'.93353-dc23 2012042349
ISBN: 978-0-415-53468-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-53469-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-52306-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Garamond 3
by Cenveo Publisher Services
For Elizabeth Ogden and Sandra Ogden, with our admiration,
our gratitude, and our love .
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
1 The analyst’s ear 6
2 How the analyst thinks as clinician and as literary reader 21
3 The critic’s eye 45
Conclusion 60
Appendix to Chapter 1: Thomas Ogden’s (1998) Reading
of Frost’s “Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same” 62
Appendix to Chapter 2: Thomas Ogden’s (2009a) Reading
of Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” 67
Appendix to Chapter 3: Benjamin Ogden’s (2012) Reading
of Roth’s T he Ghost Writer 76
References 90
Index 94
Acknowledgments
T he authors are grateful to the Institute of Psychoanalysis, London, UK for
granting permission to publish excerpts from the following papers by Thomas
Ogden:
T he Analytic Third: Working with Intersubjective Facts. I nternational
Journal of Psychoanalysis 75: 3–20, 1994. © Institute of Psychoanalysis,
London.
A nalysing Forms of Aliveness and Deadness of the Transference-
Countertransference. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 76: 695–709,
1995. © Institute of Psychoanalysis, London.
W hy Read Fairbairn? International Journal of Psychoanalysis 91: 101–118,
2010. © Institute of Psychoanalysis, London.
W e would like to thank The Psychoanalytic Quarterly for permission to
publish excerpts from the following papers by Thomas Ogden:
“ A Question of Voice in Poetry and Psychoanalysis,” fi rst published
in T he Psychoanalytic Quarterly , Volume 67: 426–448, 1998. © T he
Psychoanalytic Quarterly.
“Kafka, Borges, and the Creation of Consciousness, Part I. Kafka—Dark
Ironies of the ‘Gift’ of Consciousness,” fi rst published in T he Psychoanalytic
Quarterly , 78: 343–367, 2009. © The Psychoanalytic Quarterly.
W e are grateful to Studies in American Fiction for permission to reprint
Benjamin Ogden’s “Formal Antagonisms: How Philip Roth Writes Nathan
Zuckerman,” Vol. 39, pp. 87–101, 2012. © Johns Hopkins University Press.
We would also like to thank:
Schocken Books, a division of Random House, Inc. for permission to
reprint excepts of “A Hunger Artist” from Franz Kafka: The Complete
Stories by Franz Kafka, edited by Nahum N. Glatzer ©1946, 1947, 1948,
1949, 1954, 1958, 1971 by Schocken Books.
Acknowledgments ix
F arrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC for permission to reprint excerpts of The
Ghost Writer by Philip Roth © 1979 by Philip Roth.
B enjamin Ogden would like to thank a few of the many friends who have
provided loving guidance and support over the past several years: Penelope
Davenport, Laura Heywood, Jay Lopez, Kenny Oh, and Charles Thornton.
He would also like to thank Professors Myra Jehlen, John McClure, and Derek
Attridge for the ways they have profoundly infl uenced his thinking and
writing.
Thomas Ogden would like to express his gratitude to Warren Poland and
the Monday Writing Group for their generous and insightful comments on
the manuscript of this book, and to Patricia Marra and Gina Atkinson, once
again, for their always careful and thoughtful contributions to the production
phase.
E very effort has been made to obtain permission to use previously p ublished
extracts and poetry.