Eye on fiction

Our 'eye on fiction' series brings psychological perspectives to fictional stories.

The darkest knight yet
Travis Langley, professor of Psychology and Batman expert, with his take on the new movie.

Fighting half-truths with semi-fiction
David Harper on his involvement with a new book, The American way: Stories of invasion (Comma Press).

Making room for values and emotions
Vivienne Laidler with an introduction to acceptance and commitment therapy through the literary work Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler; is the popular children’s book a fable of third wave cognitive and behavioural therapy in disguise?

The Babadook and maternal depression
Pamela Jacobsen considers a metaphor in a horror film

The alien in us all
Psychologists on their favourite alien entity, and what their depiction says about our own psychology

A disquieting look at dementia
Mike Bender provides a critique of Lisa Genova’s novel Still Alice

Generic images of autism
Douwe Draaisma on stereotypes in novels, films and real life 

The Yellow Birds
John Marzillier on Kevin Powers’ novel and what it can teach us about trauma

Heavenly and hellish - writers on hallucinogens
Dirk Hanson takes a trip from Lewis Carroll to the modern day, via Huxley, Burroughs and others

Capturing the experience of homophobia
Martin Milton on André Carl van der Merwe’s novel Moffie 

Where the wild things are
Richard Gottlieb analyses Maurice Sendak’s fascinating 1963 picture book

Dramas of existential inquiry
Mallory Wober reflects on two novels by Sebastian Faulks 

The psychology of O
Sallie Baxendale looks at a psychological case study in literature

Can Sherlock Holmes help cognitive psychology?
André Didierjean and Fernand Gobet on long-term memory, abductive reasoning and more

Frodo’s journey
Paula Jean Manners offers a Kleinian perspective on The Lord of the Rings 

The American dream
John Marzillier on psychological perspectives on fiction – and perhaps fictional perspectives on psychology