Literature and Psychological approach

Literature and Psychological approach

The term literature is literally derived from the Latin literra, meaning an individual writing character (letter). The England word literature, Germany literature, and French literature are kinds of language used in the form of writing. The terms have generally come to identify a collection of texts or works of art,which is western culture, are mainly prose, drama, poetry, and non-fiction. The text itself can be oral, and it includes some genres such as epic, legend, myth, ballad, and other  forms of oral poetry (Peck and Coyle, 1984: 2). The term literature has various meaning, depending on who uses the term and in what context it is used. Literature is human beings’ expression of their thought, feeling, idea, experience, spirit, and belief in the form of a congruity illustration which uses language as its instrument. Then, literature is simply another way people can experience the world around them through their imagination. It means that literature will contribute a lot of information about events happening in other places or countries although the readers probably never undergo there. In short, literature can be applied broadly to mean any symbolic record, encompassing everything of images and sculptures to letters. In more specific sense, the term might mean a text composed of letters, or other examples of symbolic written language, such as Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Connolly in Koesnosoebroto mentions that: “Literature has three characteristics: The first is that literature has power. It means that the use of language in certain piecework of literature may create a powerful emotional impact upon the reader’s mind. A work of literature uses words in producing multiple images, which sometimes lead people to action. The second is that literature is vivid. It means that literary works are meaningful and life like. The third, the language of literature is clear. To clarify, the author uses the same passages to describe the characters. In this literary description of the characters, it is clear  that the writer clarifies his definition of person by showing what, why, and how he does it and what he would never do”. (1988: 2)

Furthermore, literary work also has a beautiful form; it possesses the beauty of aesthetic value. Jakob and Saini (1991: 4) mention four qualifications of beauty: 1) unity, 2) harmony, 3) balance, and 4) right emphasis. If the qualifications can be fulfilled in a literary work, the work becomes more satisfying.  However, if the qualifications can be fulfilled, its beautiful value is dwindled. The different elements above have their own individual way in forming the unit of totality. So, the elements which form the value are different in each literary work. Based on the above definitions, the researcher concludes that literature is all forms of human expression which have an aesthetic value is expressed by special language.

In classifying literature, Jakob and Saini (1991: 6-19) characterize literature based on an imaginary aspect and the use of language, they are; non-imaginative literature and imaginative literature. Non-imaginative literature is a literary genre that is based on factual or reality that really happens in human life. Imaginative literature is a literary genre in which its fact element is not so important because its purpose is not to give factual information to the readers but to provide a new sense about reality.

 Non-imaginative literature covers any literary work which has more factual elements rather than the imaginary ones, uses a denotative language and has art aesthetics.

 Then, imaginative literature includes any literary work which has imaginaries in nature, uses a connotative language and has art aesthetics. Of course, the above differences have extreme characteristic. Two elements (an imaginary characteristic and the use of language) have a contact on each literary genre.

The genres of non-imaginative literature are an essay, a critic, a biography,an autobiography, a history, a memoir, a daily record and a letter, while imaginative literary genre include prose and poem. Prose uses more denotative language rather than poem. The imaginary characteristic and connotative language in poem are more apparent than those in prose. The types of poem comprise Epic, lyric, and dramatic. Prose consists of two genres; fiction and drama. Fiction comprises; novel, short story, and novelette. Drama comprises comedy, tragedy, melodrama, and tragicomedy. 

Many questions emerge when the psychological approach is used in analyzing a literary work. As we know that literature is different from psychology, because literature is related to the literary works like poetry, drama and prose that are classified into art while psychology is related to the scientific study of the behavior of human being. Since the thesis uses this approach ”psychology” is described. According to Crow and Alice (193:3) that the term “psychology” is divided from two Greek words: psyche, which mean soul, and ology, which men study of. If the soul is interpreted as self, then psychology connotes the study of the self. The self is a dynamic (active) organism or living being that constantly affects and is being affected by other selves. Therefore, the term, psychology can be defined better as the scientific study of human behavior and of human relations. It is also in accordance with what Davis and Paladino say about psychology in Siswantoro’s book that “psychology” is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes (Siswantoro, 2005:26).

Psychology has been a greet concern of many literary critics since the twentieth century. Since then, literary criticism has expanded its wing to at least five types of approaches that are moral, formal (previously existing types), psychological, sociological, and also mythical and archetypal approaches (Wellek and Warren, 1993:59). This particular of approach, psychological one, has become the center of interest since people has been more familiar with Freudian theory of the unconscious in which Freud has given a little touch o literature. As explained by Endraswara (2003:101) that Freud has argued that while composing the work of literature, an artist is at the state of unconsciousness. Thus, it deals with the psychology of the creative process.

Psychological study on literature may take the form of the psychological study on the writer as an individual, psychological study of the creative process, psychological study of the work, or psychological study of the reader (Wellek and Warren, 1993:90). In this particular study, the researcher deals with the third type that is psychological of the work. The object of analysis is the work. Specifically, the psychological state of the major character of the given.