Much of this preoccupation with the unconscious was deeply
rooted in Freud’s theories on Psychoanalysis, the unconscious, and dreams, for
which both Andre Breton and Dali were full of praise. Freud, whose century old ideas
have experienced rapid globalization in the modern era, and laid foundations
for a different approach to the study of the human phenomenon, made the case
for the stratification of the mind into three vertical layers, the conscious,
the preconscious, and the unconscious, each placed atop the other by virtue of accessibility
through introspection, with the conscious being the most accessible.
unconscious on the other hand, he delineated as a repository for repressed thoughts,
ideas, desires, experiences, and memories. These, he postulated, were repressed
unconsciously by the mind as a result of their unacceptability in social
circles, or the emotional pain that they caused, possibly as a defense
mechanism. The preconscious, lastly, Freud considered to be a realm that
mediated these two extremes, with some thoughts or mental matter occasionally
drifting from the unconscious domain into conscious introspection. But
primarily, in his study of the field of psychoanalysis, Freud’s subject of
interest, of these three, was the unconscious, because he thought that it served, to a larger degree than the others, as a source for the study of humanity.