Charles Mauron (1899–1966) was a French

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

of contemporary English authors, including

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

, and a literary critic who made use of

psychoanalytic literary criticism Psychoanalytic literary criticism is literary criticism or literary theory which, in method, concept, or form, is influenced by the tradition of psychoanalysis begun by Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalytic reading has been practised since the early de ...

. He is noted for his books ''Aesthetics and Psychology'' (1935) and ''Des métaphores obsédantes au mythe personnel'' (1962). He was married from 1919 to 1949 to the writer Marie Mauron (1896-1986), and their home in

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (; Provençal Occitan: ''Sant Romieg de Provença'' in classical and ''Sant Roumié de Prouvènço'' in Mistralian norms) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. L ...

became a focal-point in the inter-war years for their friends in the Bloomsbury Group.

Psychocriticism

In 1963, Charles MauronDes métaphores obsédantes au mythe personnel conceived a structured method to interpret literary works via

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

. The study implied four different phases: # The creative process is akin to dreaming awake: as such, it is a

mimetic Mimesis (; grc, μίμησις, ''mīmēsis'') is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including '' imitatio'', imitation, nonsensuous similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the ...

, and

cathartic In medicine, a cathartic is a substance that ''accelerates'' defecation. This is similar to a laxative, which is a substance that ''eases'' defecation, usually by softening feces. It is possible for a substance to be both a laxative and a catha ...

, representation of an unconscious

impulse Impulse or Impulsive may refer to: Science * Impulse (physics), in mechanics, the change of momentum of an object; the integral of a force with respect to time * Impulse noise (disambiguation) * Specific impulse, the change in momentum per uni ...

or desire that is best expressed and revealed by metaphors and symbols. # Then, the juxtaposition of a writer's works leads the critic to define symbolical themes. # These metaphorical networks are significant of a latent inner reality. # They point at an obsession just as dreams can do. The last phase consists in linking the writer's literary creation to his own personal life. The author cannot be reduced to a ratiocinating self: his own more or less traumatic biographical past, the cultural

archetypes The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...

that have suffused his "soul" ironically contrast with the conscious self, The chiasmic relation between the two tales may be seen as a sane and safe

acting out In the psychology of defense mechanisms and self-control, acting out is the performance of an action considered bad or anti-social. In general usage, the action performed is destructive to self or to others. The term is used in this way in sexua ...

. A basically

unconscious Unconscious may refer to: Physiology * Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli Psychology * Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...

sexual impulse is symbolically fulfilled in a positive and socially gratifying way, a process known as Sublimation.

Notes

References

''Oxford Companion to French Literature''
"Charles Mauron" {{DEFAULTSORT:Mauron, Charles 1899 births 1966 deaths French literary critics French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French male writers