It is difficult to observe human beings without noticing that they are fundamentally psychological. This immutable nature, often if not always intertwined with biological and social factors, constantly influences human activity. Artistic activity is no exception to this reality. A work of art, even when fulfilling all the other functions generally attributed to it (aesthetic, denunciatory, historical, cultural, etc.), always embraces a significant psychological dimension—one that is unfortunately minimized or even overlooked.
The objective of this article is to address this omission by highlighting the psychological functions of art. We define them as the set of mental processes that underlie artistic creation but also result from it. These functions manifest both in the artist, the creator, and in the spectator, the one who contemplates the artwork. Aware of their plurality and the constraints framing our study, we will focus on a few key functions: sublimation, catharsis, self-affirmation, and social differentiation.
Sublimation
Psychoanalysis, a branch of psychology, considers art as the social resolution of the Unconscious, meaning the transformation of the Unconscious into social forms that hold social meaning. This perspective is based on psychic processes, which are, in reality, defense mechanisms[1]. One of these processes is sublimation.
Sublimation is a defense mechanism that allows the channeling of negative feelings or impulses by redirecting them into socially acceptable behaviors, potentially leading to social recognition. According to Freud’s theory of a child's affective development, the establishment of the Superego (the psychic instance of social censorship) during the phallic stage leads to the repression of libidinal impulses, forcing them to manifest in different ways. In other words, this is how individuals learn sublimation.
Freud’s discourse on art emphasizes the concept of sublimation. He stated it well:
"Art is an intermediate domain between reality, which frustrates desires, and the world of fantasy, which satisfies them (...). The artist is originally a man who turns away from reality (...). He then becomes what he wanted to become, without following the long and winding path of the actual transformation of the external world."[2]
This means that art is an accomplishment of wishes, in the face of a reality that is too frustrating and devoid of satisfaction. The mechanism of sublimation allows the artist, and even their audience (the one who contemplates), to satisfy repressed desires, not in their natural environment, but in areas free from any moral or social complaint (such as science and art), areas where they are valued and socially accepted.
Ultimately, the mechanism of sublimation allows the expression of an initial impulse with potentially negative social repercussions, generating a positive creative activity that can lead to social recognition, even reward. Thus, the plot of a bestseller may be inspired by some frustration, just as a platinum album may stem from affliction. "When I'm sad, that's when I write my best songs," a musician-artist we personally know once told me. Similarly, drawing quickly became for Dieudonné Assiga Ndono, a Cameroonian visual artist, the means to sublimate his childhood frustrations, marked by the absence of his siblings and the loss of his parents at the age of 10.
Based on the above, we can say that sublimation transforms frustrations in a way that makes them positive. As a result, it could be confused with catharsis. However, this possibility is ruled out when we make the following distinction: sublimation follows the principle of transformation, while catharsis follows the principle of transfer.
Catharsis
Aristotle (384-322 BC) described catharsis as the purification of passions, especially in the spectator of a dramatic performance. Aristotle made this concept the cornerstone of his view of tragedy: the tragic function would be to "purify" negative passions (fear, pity) through their portrayal in representations of "virtuous and accomplished" acts.[3] In a theater, for example, catharsis involves the representation of a repressed act (by morality, even the law), as well as its punishment. It is this representation that disgusts the spectator with the passion, marks their disapproval of the act, and frees them from this "impure" passion.
Catharsis is the mechanism through which one externalizes lived traumas. Breuer and Freud made it a therapeutic method based on hypnosis. Catharsis allows the release of intense emotional charges, which are threatening to the integrity of the Self.
Vygotsky is the first to perform a cathartic analysis of artistic creation. He focuses his analysis on the form of the artwork, having observed with the Gestaltists[4] that when this form is destroyed, the aesthetic reaction is lost. The material of art is everything the artist finds ready-made (words, sounds, images...), while the form is the mode of presenting the material in order to create an aesthetic reaction. The form is therefore both the artistic process and its result. However, the form is not the ultimate goal of art. For Vygotsky, artistic activity finds its fulfillment in the expression of emotions and feelings. In other words, art is a social technique of feeling. It taps into a part of the psyche that does not find expression in daily life: "Art provokes affects experienced in their reality but discharges their energy in the activity of imagination" (Vygotsky, 1925).
We then understand that artistic activity is the exaltation of feeling and imagination, with imagination being the central expression of emotional reaction. It is as if the psychological tension generated by a traumatic affect in the psyche finds a way of release in the imagination. This transfer makes the process of catharsis possible. Through the cathartic link between the Unconscious and the social in art, the real is produced by the subject (the creator) rather than reflected. Art thus falls within what we can call a dynamic of frustration-imagination, which frees the psyche and allows it to better thrive and assert itself.
Self-Affirmation and Personal Development
We must emphasize, at the risk of seeming trivial, that art is a work of the mind. As such, the artwork is a means by which the individual, in this case, the artist, expresses their feelings, emotions, opinions, and convictions. Accordingly, artistic activity leads to the fulfillment of the individual, as it allows them to assert themselves as a thinking subject. Let us focus on Yvon Ngassam. He is a Cameroonian multimedia and intermedia artist who has made dehumanization a central theme of his work. For him, dehumanization is the act of stripping an individual or group of their humanity, any form of generosity, or any form of sensitivity. It is inherent in a number of prejudices and stereotypes. Through his photographs, in particular, Yvon Ngassam freezes his conception of this phenomenon. In this way, he exists. Through his works, he thinks. Through his works, he affirms himself.
However, self-affirmation through art is not only about expressing thoughts and feelings. In reality, the artist also and especially affirms themselves through their creation style. Whether it is painting, sculpture, music, photography, or literature, every artist has the constant concern of differentiating themselves from their peers by adopting a unique style. And the similarities that may arise between different styles rarely surpass the desire of each creator to preserve their originality, identity, and self. Thus, Van Gogh’s way of painting differs from Picasso’s. Furthermore, young artists identify with older ones. The latter serve as models for the younger generation, a source of inspiration that ultimately allows each individual to develop the style that will become theirs, especially since everyone has their own story. A study by the Alternative Museum of Arts (AMA) reveals that Moustapha Baïdi Oumarou, a Cameroonian artist, although he has found his current style, was greatly influenced by African-American artists such as Kerry James Marshall and Kehinde Wiley.
Ultimately, self-affirmation promotes personal development. It gives the artist the opportunity to become aware of their abilities, autonomy, and therefore their capacity to create, invent, and, in the end, to be an active participant in the development of their community or country.
It is not wrong to say that self-affirmation conditions personal development. But it is not only this that emerges from self-affirmation. There is also social differentiation.
Social Differentiation
Social differentiation is a model for understanding social comparison, theorized in social psychology by Festinger in 1954.
The sense of autonomy confirmed in the artist by their personal development assumes that they compare their opinions to those of others. After this comparison, it often happens that the individual deems the considerations approved and valued by their group as degrading. Once this judgment is made, the subject will focus on marking their detachment from the group: this is social differentiation.
Lemaine (1974) is credited with providing more detailed insights into social differentiation, as he placed it at the core of his work. For him, reference to others, rather than leading to homogeneity, would lead to heterogeneity:
Lemaine (1974) deserves credit for providing further details on social differentiation, as he placed it at the heart of his work. For him, reference to others, rather than leading to homogeneity, leads to heterogeneity:
"Reference to others leads to differentiation when it threatens identity, and the restoration of this identity occurs through the search for difference in the otherness, the creation, and then the emphasis on heterogeneity."[5]
This is the case of a child who, during a football match, refuses to play with the weak team. Anyone would hesitate to join the group of losers.
We conducted 30 interviews with 30 different artists, during which we asked them how they perceived their work. 22 participants revealed to us that art was a way for them to break away from the beaten path, to stand out from the rest of the group when the beliefs, way of thinking, and behavior of that group undermine the individual's prestige. Among these 22 participants is Fidji Winner, a young Cameroonian artist-musician. During our interview, he told us what his music represented for him:
"My music is my weapon, the sword I wield to fight everything I dislike, everything that repels me, everything that outrages me and goes against my values and principles. My music is my katana, and I draw it with twice as much passion and zeal every time others seem to find no indignation in what harms our humanity. I then take out what I consider to be my sword, my music, and I rise up! I say no! I am not like them. I am not like everyone else."
Just as social differentiation can be likened to anticonformism, denunciation, or even a manifesto, it resolutely aims at the restoration of identity or the preservation of the self. This preservation of identity will therefore be consecrated, or at least conveyed, through the artistic production of the artist.
André AHANDA EKANI
[1] Unconscious psychological processes aimed at reducing or nullifying the unpleasant effects of real or imagined dangers, by reshaping internal and/or external realities, and whose manifestations (behaviors, ideas, or affects) can be either unconscious or conscious.
[2] FREUD, Sigmund, Civilization and Its Discontents, Bollati Basic Books, 1985, p.201.
[3] BLOCH Henriette et al., grand dictionnaire de la psychologie, Larousse, Paris,1999, p.568.
[4] Gestaltism is a psychological theory that emphasizes the elements of configuration and the primacy of the whole over the parts in the field of perception.
[5] LEMAINE, 1974 ; cité par C. Désiré NOUMBISSIE, Le paysage théorique de la psychologie sociale depuis 1882 : entre pléonasme et disconvenance, Edition Cheikh Anta Diop, Douala, 2019, p.149.
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