Identification (literature)

circa 1921, Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis|309x309px Freud and psychoanalysis Freud first introduced the concept of identification in his 1921 book Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, where he referred to it as “the original form of emotional tie with an object”. Primary identification, however, is defined by psychoanalysts as a "state" of experienced oneness with the object, where the distinction between the self and non-self is suspended. Freud applied psychoanalytic techniques to literary texts in the same way that he would analyse his patient’s dreams. Most famously, Freud analysed the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles in his 1899 book The Interpretation of Dreams, which formed the basis of his controversial theory of the Oedipus complex. For Freud, identification was not only a psychological process, but the way in which the human personality was formed. == In literary theory ==

In psychoanalytic literary criticism Psychoanalytic literary criticism is a method of reading and analysing texts through the lens of psychoanalytic principles. Identification is a key concept in psychoanalytic literary criticism. In archetypal criticism, identification occurs between the reader and the archetype which a character is modelled from, either knowingly or unknowingly by the author. Northrop Frye was considered to be one of the most influential literary critics of the 20th century and a pioneering figure of archetypal criticism after Jung. == In film theory ==

In Lacanian film analysis (1594-96) depicts Narcissus gazing at his own reflection demonstrating our fascination with our image as outlined by Lacan's mirror phase. Jacques Lacan was a French psychoanalyst who, building on the work of Freud, developed a post-structuralist style of psychoanalysis known as Lacanianism or Lacanian theory. Lacanian theory has been adopted by critics as a lens for textual analysis, and is especially popular in film criticism as Lacanianism concerns itself with the highly visual concepts of the gaze, the imaginary and symbolic, and the logic of desire in the visual domain. In traditional Lacanian film theory, the gaze represents a point of identification, where “the spectator invests her/himself in the filmic image”. The spectator identifies with the camera; because they are absent from the screen they are present as the watcher. It refers to the moment in childhood when an individual first encounters themselves in a mirror and identifies with the image that they see. The mirror phase identification is the moment of separation of the ideal fantasy self, similar to Freud’s ego, with the real self, or in other words, the concept of self with the actual self. This concept of self is what is transformed when the spectator identifies with a fictional character. In his seminal work Psychoanalysis and Cinema: The Imaginary Signifier, Metz identifies the pleasure of cinema as something which arises from viewer identification. Mulvey’s most notable work is her 1975 essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", in which she introduced the concept of gendered gaze, specifically the male gaze, to the field of film theory. She argues that Hollywood films are typically structured around a primary male protagonist with whom the spectator can identify themselves with. As the viewer identifies with this active, controlling agent of the narrative, they derive pleasure from a temporary experience of omnipotence, as the external traits and perceived power of the fictional character are internalised by the viewer. == Examples ==

In the films of Alfred Hitchcock the "master of suspense", circa 1955 Alfred Hitchcock was an English new wave filmmaker, considered to be one of the most distinguished directors in the history of cinema and nicknamed the "Master of Suspense" for his long career of making thriller films, many of which are critically regarded as masterpieces, such as Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), and Psycho (1960). Hitchcock used the process of viewer identification as a technique to establish suspense, stating that the more invested the audience is in the fate of the character, the more "urgent and keen" a viewing experience. One way in which Hitchcock established viewer identification in his films was through camera work. By using restrained acting during facial close-ups and during shot/reverse shot sequences, Hitchcock designed his scenes in such a way that when the camera cut to what the character was looking at, "the viewer would experience the emotion directly, through identification, rather than by observing the actor's artifice of sentiment". Critics have argued that this is due to Hitchcock's exploitation of viewer identification. The audience identifies and sympathises with Marion, the female lead, up until the point of her brutal murder in the shower by Norman Bates, in which, according to critic Robin Wood, "Hitchcock uses all the resources of identification to make [the viewer] 'become' Norman". Wood argues that this use of identification is central to Hitchcock's work due to his interest in the "potential for abnormality". Likewise, critic Laura Mulvey stated that Hitchcock used identification to expose the perverted aspects of the audience's consciousness. == See also ==