Here is an example of a critical summary of an academic article specific to a chosen topic, Hannibal.

Transcription

1 Here is an example of a critical summary of an academic article specific to a chosen topic, Hannibal. In Freud and the Psychoanalytic Situation on the Screen Alain de Mijolla analyzes popular representations of psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic methods on screen. Mijolla s analysis can help us understand Hannibal s representations of psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic methods by providing us with the history of these representations. Films on psychoanalysis usually reflect the evolution of the public s image of psychoanalysis (Mijolla, 1999: 195). Early films about Freud himself highly misrepresented psychoanalysis by neglecting to show psychoanalytic methods and dramatizing the analyst as a hero or a detective. This partially explains why the several psychoanalytically informed characters in Hannibal are both antiheroes and assistants to homicide detectives (Will, Hannibal, Chilton); Hannibal dramatizes the deductive powers of its psychoanalytically informed characters while not representing clearly the psychoanalytic methods at hand, romanticizing psychoanalysis. Will Graham sees mysterious visions of the history of a crime scene, as if by magical powers. So on one hand Hannibal would be in opposition to a psychoanalytic film which is intended to be educational and belongs more to the documentary genre than dramatic fiction (Mijolla, 1999: 196). However on the other hand we can see some Will Graham in his trance, magically deducing the history of a crime scene. ways Hannibal offers a psychoanalytic education by representing trauma and psychosis in realistic ways, correlating repetitions with working-through experiences that are painful to remember but impossible to forget (Freud, 1991). Further a film can give an indirect education if it can give the feeling of an authentic perception of what happens during the course of psychoanalytic therapy (Mijolla, 1999: 196). Mijolla gives an example of how a film might communicate an experience of the resignification of what you mean to yourself, as if another word was added to your life sentence to create a new, retroactive signification, by mixing the present-day story, the story of the analysis, the story of childhood and the historical story, [an authentic psychoanalytical] film almost manages to give a cinematographic translation of that crucial Freudian notion... deferred action (Mijolla, 1999: 197). This deferred action is represented in Hannibal as Hannibal manipulates several people to completely question their identity to the point of psychotic breaks and total impressionability, Who could know what resonance the film might have for one of the spectators watching it... with perhaps the sense that everything might not have happened as he always believed it had? (Mijolla, 1999: 198). Mijolla had access to popular Hannibal movies like Manhunter (1986) and Silence of the Lambs I don t know what s real. Will losing his mind from Hannibal s psychoanalytically informed manipulation. (1991), but Mijolla does not consider that representations of psychoanalytic methods are split between legal, sanctioned uses and illegal, abusive uses, like Hannibal s manipulation of patients for his personal interests. How might Hannibal s thriller/antihero genre affect the impact of representations of psychoanalytic methods? Are the methods taken to be too dangerous because of the illicit uses of them? Are the methods not taken seriously because they are dramatized?

2 Works Cited Fishburne, Laurence, Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, and Thomas Harris. Hannibal: Season One. United States: NBC Universal Media, Freud, Sigmund. Remembering, Repeating, and Working-Through. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud ; Transl. from the German Under the General Editorship of James Strachey ; in Collab. with Anna Freud ; Assisted by Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson: Volume XII. eds. Freud, Sigmund, James Strachey, Anna Freud, Alix Strachey, and Alan Tyson. London: the Hogarth press and the Institute of psychoanalysis, Print. Cinema and Psychoanalysis, Parallel Histories. ed. Bergstrom, Janet. Berkeley: University of California Press, Print. Steps to help you do your critical summary: 1. Choose your topic. For this example I am choosing the psychological thriller show Hannibal. 2. Find an article by searching the library s resources for your topic s genre or major representations. Because Hannibal is a psychoanalyst, I looked up psychoanalysis and cinema in ANTPAC to find a book with a chapter on representations of psychoanalysts on film: Cinema and Psychoanalysis, Parallel Histories. ed. Bergstrom, Janet. Berkeley: University of California Press, Print. 3. From your source you should collect notes and quotes with page citations: The first film representing the biography of the inventor of psychoanalysis, Huston s Freud, shows what the American public wanted to think about Freudian psychoanalysis. This is the main interest of film today (Mijolla, 1999: 192). Popular representations of psychoanalysis perpetuate myths about what kind of person a psychoanalyst is supposed to be. The analyst is dramatized as a hero or a detective, but the actual situation of psychoanalysis is underrepresented. New films on psychoanalysis usually reflect the evolution of the public s image of psychoanalysis after the illusion had been denounced that it was the source of miracles (Mijolla, 1999: 195).

3 An exception to these movies of psychoanalysts is intended to be educational and belongs more to the documentary genre than dramatic fiction... it is less dependent than Huston s film on idealization and identification (Mijolla, 1999: 196). The most extreme version of this type of film can give psychoanalysts the feeling of an authentic perception of what happens during the course of psychoanalytic therapy (Mijolla, 1999: 196). by mixing the present-day story, the story of the analysis, the story of childhood and the historical story, [a psychoanalytical] film almost manages to give a cinematographic translation of that crucial Freudian notion après-coup or Nachträglichkeit (deferred action) (Mijolla, 1999: 197) Who could know what resonance the film might have for one of the spectators watching it, and what uncertainty risks appearing in the story he tells of his own history, with perhaps the sense that everything might not have happened as he always believed it had? (Mijolla, 1999: 198). 4. Collect images that can clarify your source and its relationship to your topic. My source was about dramatized representations of psychoanalysts and questioning one s identity, so I should find images in Hannibal that illustrate dramatize psychoanalysts and question s one s identity: 5. Introduce your source and its relevance to your topic: In Freud and the Psychoanalytic Situation on the Screen Alain de Mijolla analyzes popular representations of psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic methods on screen. Mijolla s analysis can help us understand Hannibal s representations of psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic methods by providing us with the history of these representations. 6. Weave your article quotes into an analysis of your topic, reorganizing to group common ideas as needed: The first film representing the biography of the inventor of psychoanalysis, Huston s Freud, shows what the American public wanted to think about Freudian psychoanalysis. This is the main interest of film today (Mijolla, 1999: 192). Popular representations of psychoanalysis perpetuate myths about what kind of person a psychoanalyst is supposed to be, even though these representations have nothing to do with psychoanalytic methods; as a case in point, popular

4 references to Freud often cite the subconscious even though they intend to cite Freud s unconscious, which is quite different. The analyst is dramatized as a hero or a detective, but the actual situation of psychoanalysis is underrepresented. To some extent this explains why the several psychoanalytically informed characters in Hannibal are both antiheroes and assistants to homicide detectives (Will, Hannibal, Chilton); Hannibal dramatizes the deductive powers of its psychoanalytically informed characters while not representing clearly the psychoanalytic method of free association and symbolic substitution. New films on psychoanalysis usually reflect the evolution of the public s image of psychoanalysis after the illusion had been denounced that it was the source of miracles (Mijolla, 1999: 195). The dramatization of the deductive powers of the psychoanalyst in Hannibal turns the method of free association and symbolic substitution into mystified, miraculous powers. Will Graham sees mysterious visions of the construction of a crime, as if by magic. Thus Hannibal would be in opposition to a psychoanalytic film which is intended to be educational and belongs more to the documentary genre than dramatic fiction... it is less dependent than Huston s film on idealization and identification (Mijolla, 1999: 196). However, we can see some ways Hannibal offers a psychoanalytic education [image of Will saying he s teaching psychoanalysis here] by representing trauma and psychosis in realistic ways, correlating repetitions with working-through experiences that are painful to remember but impossible to forget (Freud, 1991). Further a film can give an indirect education if it can give the feeling of an authentic perception of what happens during the course of psychoanalytic therapy (Mijolla, 1999: 196). By this Mijolla means that certain film conventions can exemplify psychoanalytic methods. Mijolla gives an example of how a film might communicate an experience of the resignification of what you mean to yourself, as if another word was added to your life sentence to create a new, retroactive signification, by mixing the present-day story, the story of the analysis, the story of childhood and the historical story, [a authentic psychoanalytical] film almost manages to give a cinematographic translation of that crucial Freudian notion après-coup or Nachträglichkeit (deferred action) (Mijolla, 1999: 197). This deferred action is represented in Hannibal in a haunting way, as Hannibal manipulates several people to completely question their identity to the point of psychotic breaks and total impressionability, Who could know what resonance the film might have for one of the spectators watching it, and what uncertainty risks appearing in the story he tells of his own history, with perhaps the sense that everything might not have happened as he always believed it had? (Mijolla, 1999: 198). 7. Consider any important differences between your topic and your source (e.g. genre differences): Mijolla had access to popular Hannibal movies like Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs, but Mijolla does not consider that representations of psychoanalytic methods are split between legal, sanctioned uses and illegal, abusive uses, like Hannibal s manipulation of patients for his personal interests. 8. At this point consider if any new questions were made possible by the analysis:

5 How might Hannibal s thriller genre affect the pedagogical impact of representations of psychoanalytic methods? Are the methods taken to be dangerous because of the scary uses of them, or are the methods not taken seriously because they are dramatized? 9. Get citations for all of your references, including your topic itself: Fishburne, Laurence, Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, and Thomas Harris. Hannibal: Season One. United States: NBC Universal Media, Freud, Sigmund. Remembering, Repeating, and Working-Through. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud ; Transl. from the German Under the General Editorship of James Strachey ; in Collab. with Anna Freud ; Assisted by Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson: Volume XII. eds. Freud, Sigmund, James Strachey, Anna Freud, Alix Strachey, and Alan Tyson. London: the Hogarth press and the Institute of psychoanalysis, Print. Cinema and Psychoanalysis, Parallel Histories. ed. Bergstrom, Janet. Berkeley: University of California Press, Print. 10. Put it all together, editing for good organization, e.g. connect common ideas.