ABSTRACT
In addition to contributing to biography, psychoanalysis has contributed to the understanding of the artistic work itself. A novel, short story, poem, or drama may be subjected to an analysis similar to that used with a neurotic symptom, a joke, or a parapraxis. The fabric of the work can be unraveled, as associations derived from primary process products of unconscious fantasy. Occasionally biographical information about the author, if available, may be used to illuminate obscurities in a text. In addition, clinical material from the psychoanalytic situation has been used to add understanding to psychological processes in fictional characters.
