The flight of the mind

Description:

The author contends psychobiography has much to gain from a closer engagement with science. Literary studies of Woolf's life have been written almost exclusively from a psychoanalytic perspective. They portray Woolf as a victim of the Freudian "family romance," reducing her art to a neurotic evasion of a traumatic childhood. But current knowledge about manic-depressive illness--its genetic transmission, its biochemistry, and its effect on brain function--reveals a new relationship between Woolf's art and her illness. Caramagno demonstrates how Woolf used her illness intelligently and creatively in her theories of fiction, of mental functioning, and of self structure. Her novels dramatize her struggle to imagine and master psychic fragmentation. They helped her restore form and value to her own sense of self and lead her readers to an enriched appreciation of the complexity of human consciousness.

subjects: English Novelists,  Criticism and interpretation,  Literature and mental illness,  Health,  Manic-depressive persons,  Biography,  Woolf, virginia, 1882-1941,  Manic-depressive illness,  English fiction, history and criticism, 20th century,  Critique et interprétation,  Santé,  People with bipolar disorder,  Humanities,  Psychotic depression,  Affective disorders,  Mental illness,  Psychotic Affective Disorders,  Mood Disorders,  Mental Disorders,  Psychiatry and Psychology,  Bipolar Disorder,  Literature,  Romancières anglaises,  Santé mentale,  Bipolaires,  Biographies,  Littérature et maladies mentales,  Romanciers anglais,  Sciences humaines,  Dépression psychotique,  Troubles affectifs,  Maladies mentales,  Littérature,  LITERARY CRITICISM,  European,  English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh,  Bipolaire stoornis,  English,  Languages & Literatures,  English Literature,  Psychose maniacodépressive,  Patients

People: Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

Places: England

Times: 20th century