week 7

In my second year of college, I switched from majoring in Political Science to English. I was worried about my decision, fearing I made a mistake, until I took a literary theory class and finally understood the value of an English degree. While we covered many theorists, it was psychoanalysis that stood out to me as an interesting and effective way to analyze literature. Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Jacques Lacan are three psychoanalysts who have shaped the way I view not only literature, but all media.

Dr. Vesna’s lecture refers to David Cronenberg’s 2011 film A Dangerous Method, which details the relationship between Freud and Jung. The film uses the father of transference, the concept of unconscious displacement of past trauma upon other people, to further explore what transference truly is. Throughout the film, Jung befriends Freud, already an established psychoanalyst, and begins an extramarital relationship with Sabina Spielrein. In the scene below, you can see the end of transference between Sabina and Jung as he breaks off their sexual relationship and she realizes their relationship was based on a projection of her past abuse from her father onto Jung.

The act of transferring past trauma onto a person is obviously not a healthy basis for a relationship, and often vacillates between love and hatred. However, Jung argues that all relationships are based in transference and should not be given up on when the transference feels broken – that relationships are made stronger by working with transference. This kind of narrative can be seen in any story about the relationships between employees and their bosses. My favorite example is in the AMC series Mad Men (which ends its final season tonight). Peggy Olson, a young woman from Brooklyn, begins her career as a secretary at an ad agency and moves her way up to become an ad executive, through the ups and downs of transference with her boss, Don Draper. Peggy, at the beginning of the series, has lost her father and attempts sexual advances with Don. However, he rejects her advances and they continue their relationship as platonic, with Don standing in for her father and Peggy standing in for his own shortcomings as a father. Their transference grows rocky in later seasons as they grow apart during Peggy’s success and Don’s downfall, mirroring the reality of transference perfectly. Their reconciliation comes in the scene below as the two share a platonically intimate moment. Don and Peggy, as opposed to Sabina and Jung, are more healthy and Jungian portrayal of navigating transference.

While Freud, Jung, and Lacan were all scientists who contributed to the field of psychiatry, their research and ideas have also contributed to art through Freudian, Jungian, and Lacanian theory. One can apply the methodology they created to explore themes of the human mind through all aspects of art.

A Dangerous Method. Dir. David Cronenberg. Perf. Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortenson. Paramount, 2011. DVD.

Braungardt, Jurgen. "Transference in Freud and Lacan." Philosophical Explorations. N.p., 17 Nov. 2014. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://braungardt.trialectics.com/philosophy/my-papers/transference-in-freud-and-lacan/>.

"Movie Review: “A Dangerous Method.”." BrightestYoungThings. BYT Productions, 16 Dec. 2011. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://brightestyoungthings.com/articles/movie-review-a-dangerous-method.htm>.
"Transference." FrithLutoncom. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://frithluton.com/articles/transference/>.

Weiner, Matthew. "Mad Men - Peggy and Don Share a Dance." YouTube. Salvador Parada, 20 May 2014. Web. 17 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zp3qMGN-8U&spfreload=10>.