Chapter 44

It must be pointed out in this chapter that Simon Lesser's views on fiction can be applied to all art forms and texts in media. Berger first discusses how criticism is always tied to the ideology of beliefs of the critic. This is the reason for many of the different types of critics we see and hear about today. According to Lesser, Psychoanalytic criticism, which focuses on the human psyche, the unconscious, various drives and mechanisms we use to keep our balance, has a large role to play because it explains the "secret significance" of stories and other texts and helps explain some of the inconscious reasons of why art speaks to us in the way it does. Lesser goes on to explain that we feel pleasure from understanding the hidden meanings in texts. He believes there is a certain type of communication from the unconscious of the artists of the texts to the unconscious of the readers and viewers of these texts. Works of art help a person deal with the ongoing conflict betweent the id and the superego, between a person's desire for pleasure and feelings of guilt. All types of art help a person deal with the feeling of unsatisfaction that is felt at every stage in life. The arts, provide for a more harmonious world, all the while helping people conquer different stages of life.