<P> In literary criticism , stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind . The term was coined by William James in 1890 in his The Principles of Psychology , and in 1918 the novelist May Sinclair ( 1863 -- 1946 ) first applied the term stream of consciousness , in a literary context , when discussing Dorothy Richardson 's ( 1873 -- 1957 ) novels . Pointed Roofs ( 1915 ) , the first work in Richardson 's series of 13 semi-autobiographical novels titled Pilgrimage , is the first complete stream of consciousness novel published in English . However , in 1934 , Richardson comments that `` Proust , James Joyce , Virginia Woolf & D.R. ... were all using ' the new method ' , though very differently , simultaneously '' . </P>
<P> In literary criticism , stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind . The term was coined by William James in 1890 in his The Principles of Psychology , and in 1918 the novelist May Sinclair ( 1863 -- 1946 ) first applied the term stream of consciousness , in a literary context , when discussing Dorothy Richardson 's ( 1873 -- 1957 ) novels . Pointed Roofs ( 1915 ) , the first work in Richardson 's series of 13 semi-autobiographical novels titled Pilgrimage , is the first complete stream of consciousness novel published in English . However , in 1934 , Richardson comments that `` Proust , James Joyce , Virginia Woolf & D.R. ... were all using ' the new method ' , though very differently , simultaneously '' . </P>
the term stream of consciousness was first used in literary criticism in
the term stream of consciousness was first used in literary criticism in
The Principles of Psychology
The Principles of Psychology