PSYCHOANALYTIC CRITICISM
‘THE FIRST STONE ‘
Helen Garners controversial novel The First Stone (1995) tells the story of a sexual harassment case in a Melbourne university, and attempts to analyse the power relations between men and women. By applying psychoanalytic criticism to this novel it clearly becomes an interesting work of investigative journalism that could be classed as valued Australian literature.
Psychoanalytic Criticism is defined by Moon (1992, p.97) ” as seeing literary texts as representing the unconscious thoughts and desires shared by members of a culture. It provides a way of exploring the social construction of personal identities, especially through the readers interaction with the text.” Psychoanalysis is a theory developed by Sigmund Freud where concentration is placed on the unconscious life of individuals, however recent conceptions of psychoanalysis see it as a way of ‘decoding’ the sexual symbolism of literary texts in order to uncover the authors unconscious obsessions. Stevens and Stewart (1996, pp.108-109) state that ” Freud viewed literature as the fantasy projection of the artist” and that if ” fantasies exist in the unconscious of the artists, they also reside in the unconscious of the audience”. So in relation to Garners controversial novel The First Stone, not only is it a compelling work of imagination but it could be classed as a work of fantasy. It seems that this novel is a far cry from the so called ‘ debate about sex and power’ that Garner describes on the back cover. It is more obviously a symbolic statement of Garner’s unconscious fantasies that she could not otherwise admit. Marilyn Lake (in Australian Book Review, 1995,p.26) states ” As it sank to its lowest intellectual level , the ‘debate’ about The First Stone became a series of nostalgic reminiscences about the joys of sex.”
The Essay on Fantasy Is A Tree With Many Roots The Fantasy Genre
Fantasy is a tree with many roots. The fantasy genre became popular because it threads the culture into the legends. It is the product of the certain times and the response to these times; the way of reaction on the epoch. Fantasy has always been a way of escaping from the depressing reality into the Wondeland or Never Never Land. The creation of the vivid and strange world in which the reality ...
Throughout the novel many symbols of Garners unconscious fantasies can be found. By using the word ‘ I ‘ personalises text which then giving the reader the notion that she is involved in the matter at hand on a more personal level than she really is. Helen Garner seems to have a reputation for personalising her writing to such a degree that Peter Pierce believed one of her earlier non-fiction novels Monkey Grip was ” Dirty talk passed of as realism, and that she had just simply published her diary”. It is unfair to lay all of the blame on Garner for the novels degree of fantasy, as stated earlier the complete meaning of the literary text lies between the transaction of the reader and the text, this meaning that The First Stone will have a different meaning for different readers. If like Garner (1995, p.63) the reader believes that ” Woman fantasise about what we will do if a bloke blah blah blah”, then they will probably believe that the Master of Ormond College was at no fault for touching the girls sexual organs without consent. However if the reader finds the use of the word ‘fantasise’ totally inappropriate then unconsciously they know that touching someone’s sexual organs without consent is offensive behaviour and no one should have to put up with it.
Throughout the novel Garner emphasises the power of young women, the power she sees them having over men, and the power she thinks they should be educated and warned about. It seems that some young woman has done something to Garner that has in turn given her all of this built up animosity about the young woman in this case. Her unconscious fantasy is basically saying that these women got what they deserved. Perhaps this seems harsh, however it is up to the reader to interpret the text by what they themselves believe to be realistic or made up.
The Essay on Women Shows Male Young
re to the aforementioned male qualities such as strength, competitiveness, etc, but more to the hope of increasing respect for typical female qualities (i. e. compassion, patience, etc) of which these characters do not share. "Symbol of desire " The female characters portray the most perfect symbol of desire. This should come as little surprise to any media observer today. People are more ...
In conclusion, after reading the above analysis on The First Stone it is easy to see why this novel could be considered valued Australian literature. Apart from the fact that a lot can be read into Garners unconscious fantasies, her work is obviously popular because of its sheer readability and her ability to fictionalise this extremely controversial subject. This novel is a fine example of feature and human interest style journalism.
LIST OF REFERENCES
Hanrahan, J., Lake, M., and Little, G.(1995), Three perspectives on Helen Garner’s The First
Stone. Australian Book Review, no.174, 25-29.
Moon, B.(1992), Literary Terms: A practical Glossary, Chalk Face Press, Cottesloe,
Stevens, B., and Stewart, L. (1995), A Guide to Literary Criticism and Research, Harcourt
Brace and Company, Orlando.
