dipsychism believed in the double ego – the presence of a secondary personality, largely concealed in the unconscious. The most contentious issue surrounding dipsychism concerned whether the hidden mind received information exclusively through the gateway of consciousness or whether information could arrive by other pathways. In the former model, the hidden mind was organised around forgotten information and trace perceptual experiences; but in the latter, it was suggested that the hidden mind might develop from more exotic material – the most likely source being mystical in nature (such as the romantic world soul).
Polypsychism was an altogether more complicated idea. Advocates of this approach viewed the human psyche as a community of lesser minds, whose operation was co-ordinated by a master (or executive) mind. The arrangement might be compared to a classical orchestra. Each of the individual sections – for example, strings, wind, or brass – can function independently; however, they are usually united under the conductor’s baton. In polypsychism, lesser minds can function independently like the sections of an orchestra. They possess a specialist repertoire (unique memories and unconscious regions); however, these lesser minds usually work together under the watchful eye of the master mind. This overseeing mind – the conductor – is the identity we recognise as ourselves when we introspect. Obviously, polypsychism provided the best account of complex multiple-personality cases. Extending the orchestral analogy, the conductor might be temporarily indisposed, allowing the first violin to leap on to the podium and turn an orchestral concert into a string concert. Needless to say, the heads of the other sections might also be capable of hijacking the programme in much the same way.
Eventually scientific investigators concluded that spiritualist phenomena could be explained entirely within the frameworks offered by either dipsychism or polypsychism. For example, the physician Théodore Flournoy undertook a five-year study of the medium Helen Smith. His results were published in
From India to the Planet Mars: A Study of a Case of Somnambulism with GIosso-lalia
(1900). Flournoy concluded that Helen Smith’s revelations were merely ‘romances of the subliminal imagination’, derived largely from forgotten sources (for example, books read as a child). He subsequently coined the term
cryptomnesia
to describe the phenomenon, Flournoy also concluded that Helen Smith’s spirit guide, Leopold, was merely an unconscious sub-personality.
Romanticism had established an intellectual climate which favoured the recognition of unconscious mental activity. Subsequently, hypnotism, phenomena associated with spiritualism, and reports of multiple personality, reinforced the view that any model of mind that failed to acknowledge the unconscious must be incomplete. Indeed, the concept of unconscious mental activity had become an essential explanatory vehicle – at least for those who professed a scientific outlook; however, new ideas about the mind did not respect the boundary between art and science, and throughout the nineteenth century many literary works appeared which were distinctly ‘psychological’.
Mesmerism inspired an entire genre. In addition to numerous lesser writers, giants such as Balzac, Dumas, Poe, Browning, and de Maupassant all wrote works featuring mesmerism. This tradition culminated with the publication of George du Manner’s
Trilby
(1894), a novel in which the eponymous heroine enjoys a brilliant (but ultimately doomed) singing career, under the hypnotic influence of her wicked mentor Svengali.
Yet more interesting are those works that seem to be inspired by the concept of split personality. In James Hogg’s
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a justified Sinner
(1S24), the anti-hero Robert Wringhitn meets a sinister stranger called Gil-Martin, who represents Satan, but may equally represent
Polypsychism was an altogether more complicated idea. Advocates of this approach viewed the human psyche as a community of lesser minds, whose operation was co-ordinated by a master (or executive) mind. The arrangement might be compared to a classical orchestra. Each of the individual sections – for example, strings, wind, or brass – can function independently; however, they are usually united under the conductor’s baton. In polypsychism, lesser minds can function independently like the sections of an orchestra. They possess a specialist repertoire (unique memories and unconscious regions); however, these lesser minds usually work together under the watchful eye of the master mind. This overseeing mind – the conductor – is the identity we recognise as ourselves when we introspect. Obviously, polypsychism provided the best account of complex multiple-personality cases. Extending the orchestral analogy, the conductor might be temporarily indisposed, allowing the first violin to leap on to the podium and turn an orchestral concert into a string concert. Needless to say, the heads of the other sections might also be capable of hijacking the programme in much the same way.
Eventually scientific investigators concluded that spiritualist phenomena could be explained entirely within the frameworks offered by either dipsychism or polypsychism. For example, the physician Théodore Flournoy undertook a five-year study of the medium Helen Smith. His results were published in
From India to the Planet Mars: A Study of a Case of Somnambulism with GIosso-lalia
(1900). Flournoy concluded that Helen Smith’s revelations were merely ‘romances of the subliminal imagination’, derived largely from forgotten sources (for example, books read as a child). He subsequently coined the term
cryptomnesia
to describe the phenomenon, Flournoy also concluded that Helen Smith’s spirit guide, Leopold, was merely an unconscious sub-personality.
Romanticism had established an intellectual climate which favoured the recognition of unconscious mental activity. Subsequently, hypnotism, phenomena associated with spiritualism, and reports of multiple personality, reinforced the view that any model of mind that failed to acknowledge the unconscious must be incomplete. Indeed, the concept of unconscious mental activity had become an essential explanatory vehicle – at least for those who professed a scientific outlook; however, new ideas about the mind did not respect the boundary between art and science, and throughout the nineteenth century many literary works appeared which were distinctly ‘psychological’.
Mesmerism inspired an entire genre. In addition to numerous lesser writers, giants such as Balzac, Dumas, Poe, Browning, and de Maupassant all wrote works featuring mesmerism. This tradition culminated with the publication of George du Manner’s
Trilby
(1894), a novel in which the eponymous heroine enjoys a brilliant (but ultimately doomed) singing career, under the hypnotic influence of her wicked mentor Svengali.
Yet more interesting are those works that seem to be inspired by the concept of split personality. In James Hogg’s
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a justified Sinner
(1S24), the anti-hero Robert Wringhitn meets a sinister stranger called Gil-Martin, who represents Satan, but may equally represent
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