Jim Anderson in Interview with Claude-Hélène Mayer; September 26, 2018

Abstract

The goal of psychobiography is gaining access to the inner world of the person we are writing about. Hence psychoanalysis, which is the discourse that recognizes the complexity of the mind, unconscious and conscious, is indispensable to psychobiography. It follows that psychobiography is more an art than a science. The scientific method provides a paucity of tools for learning what goes on within a person’s mind. Instead we need the artist’s tools, such as intuition, interpretation, and empathy. Psychobiography of this kind rests on material that provides a portal into the subject’s inner world, such as the subject’s dreams, fantasies, delusions, humor, and imaginative writing, along with writings not meant for the public, such as letters and diaries.