Essay Database

PSYCHOANALYTIC CRITICISM 'THE FIRST STONE ' Helen Garners controversial novel The First Stone (1995) tells the story of a sexual harassment case in a Melbourne university, and attempts to analyse the power relations between men and women. By applying psychoanalytic criticism to this novel it clearly becomes an interesting work of investigative journalism that could be classed as valued Australian literature. Psychoanalytic Criticism is defined by Moon (1992, p.97) " as seeing literary texts as representing the unconscious …

…sheer readability and her ability to fictionalise this extremely controversial subject. This novel is a fine example of feature and human interest style journalism. LIST OF REFERENCES Hanrahan, J., Lake, M., and Little, G.(1995), Three perspectives on Helen Garner's The First Stone. Australian Book Review, no.174, 25-29. Moon, B.(1992), Literary Terms: A practical Glossary, Chalk Face Press, Cottesloe, Stevens, B., and Stewart, L. (1995), A Guide to Literary Criticism and Research, Harcourt Brace and Company, Orlando.