Liberal humanists are interested in what a text says about 'the human condition' about universal truths and human nature. Literature is seen to have a responsibility to enhance life and act as a foundation of civilisation. The mind became split between the conscious element and the hidden subconscious depths. Psychoanalysis is concerned with the excavation of unresolved conflicts, buried desires and the traumas of the past, particularly childhood. These repressed issues would manifest themselves through subtle and accidental ways or become projected onto other issues or people.
Psychoanalysis emphasises the importance of the unconscious.
Not just the exploration of the unconscious life of fictional characters. Freud was interested in the work of dreams and fantasy. Jung took this further and suggested a 'collective unconscious' which contained symbols and archetypes common to all humanity, apparent in mythological systems. A writer taps into these elements when writing symbolic material. Lacan challenges any claim to universal truth of these symbols but argues, rather, that the subconscious is constructed like a language.