Fallen Souls in Turmoil: The Application and Transcendence of Psychoanalytic Theory in Sinking

Abstract

Yu Dafu’s short story collection Sinking is centered on psychoanalytic theory, innovating the autobiographical narrative form and psychological storytelling to depict the spiritual struggles of young intellectuals during the May Fourth period. This study applies Freud’s theories to analyze the conflict between the id and the superego, hysteria as a defense mechanism caused by libido imbalance, and the deep-rooted causes of sexual repression, unveiling the unconscious turmoil of the protagonists. Yu Dafu situates individual psychological dilemmas within the context of colonial modernity, elevating pathological traits such as inferiority and self-destruction into symptomatic expressions of national trauma. The origins of his literary creation can be traced to personal experiences (childhood trauma, loneliness while studying abroad), influences from Japanese shishōsetsu (I-novels), and cultural anxieties induced by societal upheaval. The collection dissolves personal names and constructs symbolic figures, transcending the scope of psychoanalysis from individual diagnosis to social critique, transforming the existential plight of “superfluous men” into a universal predicament of intellectuals in a transitional era. By intertwining neurosis with national destiny and imbuing his poetic language with aesthetic redemption, Yu Dafu forges a critical pathway in the intersection of literature and psychoanalysis, pioneering a socio-symptomatic critique that reconstructs subjectivity and diagnoses the symptoms of his time.