THE HIDDEN MIND

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 127, 3 June 1929, Page 6

THE HIDDEN MIND

LITEKAEY SYMBOLISM

PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY

■ Continuing his series of lectures on "Psychology and Literature" for the Workers' Educational Association in the Trades Hall on Saturday evening, Dr. I. L. G. Sutherland, of Victoria College, reminded his large audience that the modern study of the unconscious mind had thrown much light on the process of artistic creation, and he expressed the opinion that one of the most important activities of the unconscious mind was symbolism. Through the study of symbolism—particularly dream symbolism—we can understand much that has hitherto been inexplicable in literary creation, said the lecturer. "We know now that mind is much wider than consciousness, and that what we call consciousness is. only the illuminated surface of a stream which flows deep. The unconscious mind influences feelings, thought, and behaviour in many indirect ways, and its content is largely unknown to consciousness, being oiten disturbing and distressing, and so repressed. Uncouseious material often appears in consciousness in a disguised form—in symbols which are the emotioal equivalents of unconscious material. Modern psychology is very interested m dreams, when the material normally inaccessible comes to the surtace, and symboliam is very frequent. The symbols stand as the equivalents of unconscious thoughts and feelings, said Dr. Sutherland, and the dream aud the poem have much in common. Both the dreamer and the poet constantly use symbols, thus indirectly representing unconscious feelings and thoughts, and, in the case o£ a poem, making an •-■ unconscious appeal, through these symbols, to the minds of others. The symbol is a means of giving expression to the unconscious, and the whole subject of symbolism is very wide. The lecturer referred to the use of metaphor and to the way in which felicitous words are used in both, poetry and prose to convey emotion from the writer to the reader. He explained the important part which musical sound plays, especially in poety, in helping to make the rhythm, and in the value of alteration in order to- obtain sequence of ideas. Dr. Sutherland quoted examples from the lines of C. M. Doughty, .Eobert Graves, Edgar Allen Foe, and W. B. Teats, and considered that the process of selecting words to fit in with the whole pattern .of sound was, generally, unconscious im the writer, and its effect was unconsciously perceived by the reader. EMOTIONAL ASSOCIATIONS. Much more important ' than this—and move interesting from the psychological point of view—is the question of the emotional associations of words, said the speaker, and 1 many words' possess these emotional overtones in considerable richness. Psychology now mai;es a two-fold division in the function or" words —they may be used either to convey a fact or statement, or to evoke an attitude. On the one hand words are used to refer to things, and on the other to express or arouse feelings and emotions. This latter function of words may be termed the emotive or evocative use of words. In science, the "stating" function of words, is most clearly used, while in poetry the smotive or evocative function is most obriously displayed. In prose writing both unctions are in operation, and the subtle lse of evocative words is taken full advantage of for propaganda purposes and by •hetorical speakers. The scientist, in'his lse of words, tries to make them referen;ial rather than emotional, while-the poet lses words in' a way predominantly emotional to express his own attitudes arid to :voke feeling-attitudes in his readers, ilany words are so rich in emotional asiociations that they have almost lost their •eferential use, and in sentimental writng they are often lavishly used to evoke rague and romantic sentiments. Others ire so surcharged with emotion tha'v their lse, without the right equipment of mind md emotion, and the right elevation of eeling, results simply in bathos. IMPORTANCE OF SYMBOLISM. Passing on to the important place which he symbolic representation of unconscious naterial occupies in creative literature. Dr.. Sutherland stated that symbolism, or con:rete representation, was very markeol in he fantasy of the child and the myth of he savage, and it must not be thought of nerely as a survival, since it clearly playid a very great part in the emotional life if the adult, and was the vehicle for the lisguised expression of the wealth of unlonseious mental material. Dreams have ong been regarded as symbolic, but thie icientific study of dream symbolism an.d he establishment of true principles a.E ymbolising is something quite new. Tht! ilder systems were almost wholly supertitious, and our whole modern knowledge if the unconscious mind and its significance s due to the genius of Sigmund Freud, t is still uncertain whether fixed symbols iccur in the dream life of all civilised' >eoples, and are inherited from primitive i tneestors, but some general principles of he interpretation of symbols have been istablished, and many symbols seem wellligh universal, probably through diffusion ather than inheritance. Dreams are fre(uently confused, bizarre and meaningess, and many are very difficult to analyse. Che manifest content—what we remember -symbolically represents the latent conent, the unconscious material, and often he symbolic extravagance is such that it s difficult to see what the manifest conent really represents. A striking example if the strange and incomprehensible namve of dreams was given from the work if the late Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, together vith its brilliant analysis. "INSPIRATION" AND DREAMS. In dealing with the psychology of poetic xeation, Dr. Sutherland stated. that ronantic poetry particularly represented the mconscious transformation into symbolsm of some disturbing emotional crisis in he poet's mind—a crisis of pain or of lelight. The poetic state known as "inpiration" much resembles the dream state, md many poems had a dream origin. A orm of symbolism common in both and n the novel also is the way in which an neident in childhood can be unconsciously iymbolic of the present. That sublime ;enius, William Blake, is perhaps our best :xample of the artist using symbols. He lenied the world of nature as perceived ihrough the senses, and found truth in nner vision. Blake says we must not dwell in the external forms of things nor deight in them, but if we look on things vith other eyes than those of sense we ihall :" See a world in a grain of sand, And Heaven in a wild flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour. Many of his prose writings fail in the trtistic duty of communication, for the lymbolism is too private and subjective for )thers to grasp it, and much 'useless lab>us has been expended in trying to "interpret" Blake's prophetic books. But even n what may seem like simple lyrics, deep 3ymbolism is involved, and Blake will repay much further study in the light of jur present psychological knowledge of symbolism and its motivation. . Dr. Sutherland gave several quotations from the poetry of Blake and Coleridge, and the more modern writers, Edith Sitwell, Rob;rt Graves, and Francis Thompson, and concluded an interesting lecture by stating ;hat wherever the mood of inspiration has produced a poem, drama, or novel, for ivhich the author can give no logical explanation, unconscious symbolism can help us to understand it. In the light of pre : sent-day knowledge, we are better able to understand what imaginative literature jan do for us and why it can affect us as it does. No one wants a life ruled by the pure logic of reason. The realm of emotion and the realm of imagination, closely connected as they are, add enormously to the richness of life, and-it is into these that the creative artist can lead us more and more fully. The final lecture will deal with "Psy-cho-Analytic Studies of Genius."