Dynamic Psychology in Modernist British Fiction

by George M. Johnson

Dynamic Psychology in Modernist British Fiction argues that literary critics have tended to distort the impact of pre-Freudian psychological discourses, including psychical research, on Modern British Fiction. Psychoanalysis has received undue attention over a more typical British eclecticism, embraced by now-forgotten figures including Frederic Myers and William McDougall. This project focuses on the Edwardian novelists most fully engaged by dynamic psychology, May Sinclair, and J.D. Beresford, but also reconsiders Arnold Bennett and D.H. Lawrence. The book concludes by demonstrating Woolf's subtle assimilation of pre-Freudian discourse.

269 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

George M. Johnson writes stories of positive change based on his social justice work over 30 years, for which he received the Y.M.C.A. Peace Medal in 2019. He grew up in Waterdown, Ontario, and in 1991 moved to Kamloops, B.C., where he is Professor of creative writing and literature in the Literatures, Languages, and Performing Arts Department at Thompson Rivers University. His comedy Still Life With Nudes, about seniors who stage a sit-in at an art gallery won several awards, including the Ottawa Little Theatre’s Gladys Cameron Watt Award and the Regina Little Theatre’s National Playwriting Competition. It was published in Ryga and in the U.S.A. by ArtAge. His screenplay “Peace Pledge,” received Honorable Mention in the Euroscript Screenplay Competition and the New Renaissance Film Festival (London). His latest book is Mourning and Mysticism in First World War Literature: Grappling With Ghosts. Canoeing, camping, and cross-country skiing count among his outdoor passions. Living surrounded by mountains, but visiting the contrasting prairie landscape, inspired him to write his first picture book Marisa and the Mountains. https://georgemjohnson.com/. It was selected as one of the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids and Teens in 2021, and is a starred selection, signifying "titles of exceptional calibre." His second picture book, How Hope Became An Activist was a Finalist for the Eric Hoffer Awards Montaigne Medal for the most thought-provoking books in all genres, “books that either illuminate, progress, or redirect thought.” His recent award-winning picture books are "Sophia's Secrets" and "Aldo Renaldo and the Renegade Alphabet." "Pinky's Moving Story" will be released by Histria in March, 2026, with "Aldo Renaldo and the Numbers That Just Don't Add Up" appearing with Histria in September, 2026. More titles are forthcoming!

Reviews

[The Awdude · Rating 3 out of 5]

This critical work is compelling because of the largely ignored pre-Freudian history of psychology that Johnson resuscitates. His apparent belief in psychic experimentation's power to prove the existence of the soul, well, not so compelling. But from a purely historical standpoint, the back story of the ruthless political strategizing that resulted in Freud's narrowly edging out his predecessors for the academic spotlight- that's what makes this book worth reading. It's also interesting how Johnson outlines the reasons why literary modernism would have never existed without psychoanalytic theory. And neither would much of anything since, if you ask me. But whatever I'm a psych crit nerd. Read this and you can be too!