diagnosis liver disease, bisexuality, and other analytical pursuits

[nataliek at UALBERTA.CA]

First I would like to say that I have very much appreciated the 
discussion of psychoanalytical approaches to literature.  
Psychoanalytical approaches to folklore were once very important 
(Bettelheim, von Franz).  Now they have virtually been forgotten.  So 
reading a discussion of psychoanalytical approaches to literature has 
been most informative.

Now I would like to add my two cents.  There have been very interesting 
analyses written not only of the mental makeup of the characters in 
literature and art, but also of the physical diseases that might, or 
might not, plague them.  I remember an article in Science, I believe, 
that tried to diagnose the ailments that might be afflicting a figure 
in a painting.  I unfortunately don't remember which painting.  Why is 
this interesting and important?  Figures in literature and in art shape 
our imagination.  They are, or become, iconic.  So seeing what diseases 
of the body or of the mind capture our imagination tells us something 
about ourselves.


Natalie Kononenko Kule Chair of Ukrainian Ethnography
University of Alberta
Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
200 Arts Building
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E6
Phone: 780-492-6810
Web: http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/uvp/

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