Identification refers to the automatic, subconscious psychological process in which an individual becomes like or closely associates themselves with another person by adopting one or more of the others' perceived personality traits, physical attributes, or some other aspect of their identity. The concept of identification was founded by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud in the 1920’s, and has since been expanded on and applied in psychology, social studies, media studies, and literary and film criticism. In literature, identification most often refers to the audience identifying with a fictional character, however it can also be employed as a narrative device whereby one character identifies with another character within the text itself. Varying interpretations of Freud's original concept of identification are found in literary and film theory traditions, such as psychoanalytic literary criticism, archetypal literary criticism, and Lacanian film analysis, and in the works of prominent theorists and critics such as Northrop Frye, Laura Mulvey, and Christian Metz. Acclaimed filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock used specific camera and acting techniques in his films to incite audience identification with his characters in order to create suspense.
Origins
Freud and psychoanalysis
Freud first introduced the concept of identification in his 1921 book Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, where he referred to it as “the original form of emotional tie with an object”. He initially detected the occurrence of identification whilst analysising his patient's dreams for therapeutic purposes. In his later works, he isolated three separate modes of identification: primary identification, hysterical identification, and narcissistic identification. In Freudian psychoanalysis, identification is largely considered a process "in which something previously experienced as external becomes internal". Primary identification, however, is defined by psychoanalysts as a "state" of experienced oneness with the object, where the distinction between the self and non-self is suspended. According to Freud, hysterical identification is a secondary form of identification, denoting a process whereby a change occurs in the self-concept of the subject so that they become more like the object. Furthermore, narcissistic identification is an aggressive form of identification which follows on from hysterical identification, in which the subject wishes to become the object in order to take its place. Freud states that narcissistic identification is the beginning of the Oedipus complex, in which the child desires to replace their same-sex parent. Freud applied psychoanalytic techniques to literary texts in the same way that he would analyse his patient’s dreams. Most famously, Freud analysed the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles in his 1899 book The Interpretation of Dreams, which formed the basis of his controversial theory of the Oedipus complex. Freud claimed that a successful resolution to the Oedipus complex was for the patient to adopt a state of primary identification with their same-sex parent by internalising part of their personality and worldview. For Freud, identification was not only a psychological process, but the way in which the human personality was formed.
In literary theory
In psychoanalytic literary criticism
Psychoanalytic literary criticism is a method of reading and analysing texts through the lens of psychoanalytic principles. It is largely informed by Freudian psychoanalysis, but has since grown into its own field in literary theory, influenced by the work of psychoanalysts such as Carl Jung, Melanie Klein, and Jacques Lacan. Identification is a key concept in psychoanalytic literary criticism. Drawing upon the large body of psychoanalytic theory, Merav Roth identified seven forms of identification which can occur whilst reading literature. Among these are; internalised identification, where parts of a character are internalised to become parts of the reader, internalised identification with ‘good’ objects or characters is part of the pleasure of reading and can repair the individuals sense of internal goodness; projective identification, where an individual projects an aspect of themselves onto an object, used to distance oneself from anxiety, readers can project traits onto a character in order to work through them; and intrusive identification, whereby a character penetrates the psyche of the reader, momentarily suspending the reader within the narrative as an extreme form of empathy.
In archetypal literary criticism
Archetypal literary criticism is a critical framework for literary analysis which draws on the principles of analytical psychology by interpreting texts through the lens of recurring myths and archetypes. Archetypal literary criticism draws heavily on the work of psychoanalyst Carl Jung, a friend and colleague of Freud’s who branched out from Freudian psychoanalysis to establish the field of analytical psychology. In archetypal criticism, identification occurs between the reader and the archetype which a character is modelled from, either knowingly or unknowingly by the author. For the reader to identify with the hero archetype, for example, is a cathartic experience as they are freed from the worries and emotions of their everyday life to momentarily become a powerful hero operating inside a contained fantasy. Northrop Frye was considered to be one of the most influential literary critics of the 20th century and a pioneering figure of archetypal criticism after Jung. In his 1990 book Words with Power, Frye proposed the literary device of metaphor to be a method of inciting identification in the reader. Frye said that a metaphor not only identifies one thing with another, but both things with the reader, creating an experience of identification which merged the reader with the text.
In film theory
In Lacanian film analysis
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