Interpretations of Life Stories
Schafer began to present traditional psychoanalytical concepts not as scientific principles but as interpretative storylines. In this view there is no single correct interpretation of a life story; rather, like other narrative constructions, such as poems or novels, the account lends itself to various understandings each of which can legitimately claim to be true while emphasizing another way of looking at it. According to Mitchell's alternative view of Schafer's work, the value of an interpretation lies not in its objectivity or correctness, but in its potential for opening up new forms of experience and allowing the analysand to claim a deeper and broader sense of its own activity.
Read more about this topic: Roy Schafer
Famous quotes containing the words life and/or stories:
“If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he cant go at dawn and not many places he cant go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walkingone sport you shouldnt have to reserve a time and a court for.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demanda business as safe and commendable as making soap or breakfast foodsor it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand, something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nothing to do with standardized values.”
—Willa Cather (18761947)