Psychoanalytic Perspective Research Articles

Psychoanalytic perspectives from South Asia: introduction to special issue

Psychoanalytic perspectives from South Asia: introduction to special issue

"Clothe you his body, he will help to apparel your mind": Imitation and Narcissism in Cynthia's Revels

abstract: This study examines the relationship between imitation and narcissism in the early modern period through a rereading of Ben Jonson's Cynthia's Revels . Contrary to modern psychoanalytic understanding that a close connection exists between imitation and narcissism, imitation, as a method of translation and creation, in the early modern period does not relate to narcissism; in fact, they can be viewed as opposing concepts. To explore the relationship between imitation and narcissism and to establish a connection between the two concepts in psychoanalysis, this study uses the works of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. Through an analysis of characters, Criticus and Amorphus, in Cynthia's Revels , this study reveals that, while Criticus often imitates classical authors such as Horace, Seneca, and Juvenal, he is not regarded as a narcissist. Contrastingly, characters such as Amorphus are portrayed as narcissistic, though they only quote Latin idioms and do not imitate them. Their behavior is mimicry, a superficial imitation without substance. This article then rereads the portrayals of Criticus and Amorphus from a modern-day psychoanalytic perspective, suggesting that Criticus can be perceived as narcissistic and that Amorphus can be seen as a force of satire instead of a satirized target.

REFLECTION OF ALCOHOLISM IN THE LYRICS “CHANDELIER” BY SIA

This research aims to determine the author's psychology in creating a literary work through a psychoanalytic perspective. The creation of a lyric cannot be separated from its author. Sia Kate Isobelle Furler and Jesse Shatkin wrote the lyrics to the song entitled Chandelier. This research was conducted to find out how the psychological role of the author influences the literary work created by the author. The psychological theory that is very dominant in the analysis of literary works is Freud’s theory, where this theory differentiates personality into three types, namely Id, Ego, and Super Ego. Data collection uses documentation techniques from primary data sources, namely the lyrics of the song “Chandelier” and secondary data sources in the form of books, research journals, and articles which relevant. This research uses qualitative descriptive methods to conduct an analysis, using library research methods and content analysis methods to collect and analyze the data used. The research results show that the lyrics she created reflect the psychological state of the author. Represented through several sentences and characters built into the lyrics, which consist of 3 aspects of the Id, 3 aspects of the ego, and 1 aspect of the superego. This results in the conclusion that the psychological condition of the writer, Furler, who is a former alcoholic, can influence the creation of the lyrics of the song Chandelier where alcohol acts as an escape from the pain she felt, this is in line with Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory.

Can AI Lie? Chabot Technologies, the Subject, and the Importance of Lying

This article poses a simple question: can AI lie? In response to this question, the article examines, as its point of inquiry, popular AI chatbots, such as, ChatGPT. In doing so, an examination of the psychoanalytic, philosophical, and technological significance of AI and its complexities are located in relation to the dynamics of truth, falsity, and deception. That is, by critically considering the chatbot’s ability to engage in natural language conversations and provide contextually relevant responses, it is argued that what separates the AI chatbot from anthropocentric debates, which allude to some form of conscious recognition on behalf of AI, is the importance of the lie – an importance which a psychoanalytic approach can reveal. Indeed, while AI technologies can undoubtedly blur the line between lies and truth-speaking, in the case of the AI chatbot, it is detailed how such technology remains unable to lie authentically or, in other words, is unable to lie like a human. For psychoanalysis, the capacity to lie bears witness to the unconscious and, thus, plays an important role in determining the subject. It is for this reason that rather than uncritically accepting the chatbot’s authority – an authority that is easily reflected in its honest responses and frank admissions – a psychoanalytic (Lacanian) perspective can highlight the significance of the unconscious as a distorting factor in determining the subject. To help elucidate this argument, specific attention is given to introducing and applying Lacan’s subject of enunciation and subject of the enunciated. This is used to assert that what continues (for now) to set us apart from AI technology is not necessarily our ‘better knowledge’ but our capability to consciously engage in acts of falsehood that function to reveal the social nuances and significances of the lie.

Psychoanalytic Approach to Louise Glück’s Blended Receptions of the Myths of Narcissus and Persephone in Averno

In recent years, mythological retellings have garnered increasing acclaim. One such example is Louise Glück’s book of poetry Averno (2006), in which she blends the myths of Narcissus and Persephone. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, a narcissus serves as bait when Hades abducts Persephone. However, in Glück’s contemporary rewriting, Persephone seeks to escape her authoritarian mother by embracing Hades, whose perspective is given in “A Myth of Devotion,” but the ultimate outcome is that Persephone is controlled by both her mother and her husband. In the present paper, I shall first address the reception of the myths of Persephone and Narcissus in Glück’s “A Myth of Innocence.” Then, I shall analyse sexuality, trauma and marriage in “A Myth of Innocence” and “A Myth of Devotion” from a psychoanalytic perspective, while also exploring the motifs that occur in Glück’s appropriation of the two myths in question.

A Psychoanalytic Perspective on the Practice of Fictionalized Free Association

This study explores the innovative application of 'fictionalized' free association within the framework of psychoanalysis, with a particular focus on its effectiveness in revealing unconscious conflicts and alleviating neurotic anxiety. By analyzing a case involving the practical use of 'fictionalized' free association, this research aims to deepen the understanding of this technique and its potential applications in clinical practice.

Expanding dissociation informed psychoanalytic practice: How to make conceptual sense of Not-Me, No-Me, and Many-Mes

ABSTRACT In recent years, psychoanalysis has undergone a very welcomed transformation away from a predominant emphasis on repressive symptomatology and intrapsychic conflict, toward an appreciation of dissociative symptomatology and the unformulated. And yet, much ambiguity surrounds our understanding of dissociation as a process, defense, and structure of the self. In this paper, I outline a self-state continuum model to help formulate the different ways defensive dissociation may be operating from a discrete process into becoming a structure of the self. I elaborate on this continuum model and go on to examine how discontinuous self-system patients may be better identified and treated from within a psychoanalytic perspective.

Oedipal Aspect in Sons and Lovers: A Psychoanalytic Study

This research attempts to investigate how gender is seen in Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence, the greatest piece of English literature. An examination of the Oedipal element in D.H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers can be conducted using a psychoanalytic perspective, notably applying the Oedipus complex theory developed by Sigmund Freud. The writings of Lawrence provide context for the gender issue discussed in this essay. In the book under consideration, gender meaning is emphasized. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers describes how gender is treated. The Oedipus complex and its relation to Freudian thought are also covered. Along with these conflicts, the paper also depicts those between mother and son, mother and beloved, and soul and body. With a psychoanalytic perspective, this research analyzes the Oedipal element in D.H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, emphasizing the complex dynamics of familial connections and how they affect the main character, Paul Morel. Central to the analysis is Paul’s intense bond with his mother, Gertrude, which embodies the Oedipus complex's themes of love, dependency, and rivalry. The strained relationship with his father, Arthur, exacerbates Paul's psychological conflict, leading to a struggle for identity and autonomy. Additionally, Paul's romantic entanglements with Miriam and Clara illustrate his ongoing battle between maternal attachment and the pursuit of adult love. By exploring these relationships and their symbolic implications, this study highlights how Lawrence portrays the complexities of emotional dependency and the challenges of achieving selfhood in the context of unresolved Oedipal tensions. Ultimately, the research underscores the profound effects of early familial interactions on adult psychological development and relational dynamics.

Sarah and the Fear of Growing Up – A Case Study in School Psychology, Examined From a Psychoanalytic Perspective

Sarah and the Fear of Growing Up – A Case Study in School Psychology, Examined From a Psychoanalytic Perspective

Introduction to the Special Issue on Maternal Subjectivity: An Essential Link in Relational-Social Psychoanalysis

This article begins with an overview of the historical treatment of maternal subjectivity within psychology, psychoanalysis, and feminism, discussing the inroads that have been made to support the subject status of mothers themselves, as well as where these improvements are incomplete. Also considered are the invited papers appearing in this special issue of Psychoanalytic Perspectives and the ways in which they unfold new iterations of theorizing maternal subjectivity. Particularly, this paper introduces the concept of matrescence—the developmental process of becoming a mother—into the psychoanalytic lexicon. Doing so allows further discussion of how the mother’s subject status can elaborate the lineage of the feminine and co-created, relational, and social aspects of identity. Recognizing the mother is not an individualistic pursuit, a competition between mother and baby for whose experience gets to matter; rather, recognizing maternal subjectivity is inherently a recognition of linking. It is essential to the development of relational psychoanalysis and, this paper argues, an essential link in considering the oft-neglected socio-cultural aspects of the psyche.

Demystifying Jung's "Archetypes" with Embodied Cognition.

Since he first proposed it, Carl Jung's "archetype" theory has faced resistance from a pervasive but seldom examined set of underlying Cartesian assumptions embedded in mainstream psychology. This paradigm assumed a physical universe (and hence body) free of psyche that coincided with an essentially disembodied mind largely concerned with abstract symbol manipulation. This situation led archetype theory to remain largely within insulated psychoanalytic circles for decades. Since the 1980s, however, cognitive psychology has increasingly become embodied from a variety of standpoints. This article shows how the results of embodied cognition and spontaneous thought "demystify" many of the attributes Jung described in his archetype theory, making archetype theory not only more comprehensible but clinically applicable. Combining approaches suggests new avenues of inquiry for experimental research and enriches the psychoanalytic perspective.

Psychoanalytic perspectives on traumatised children: The Armenian experience

In this very original and pioneering chapter, the noted British-based forensic psychoanalytical practitioner, the late Mrs Sira Dermen, has written a very detailed and rather moving encapsulation of her work in Armenia, providing emergency support for survivors of the devastating earthquake which erupted in 1988. This essay serves as an inspiring role model for the ways in which contemporary forensic mental health practitioners can offer not only traditional psychotherapeutic assistance, but also treat the survivors of what we might consider as environmental forensic patients, namely, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and other climate change-related bombings.

Relações parentais em Fruits Basket, de Natsuki Takaya

From a psychoanalytic perspective, this article seeks to understand demonstrations of melancholy experience in family relationships between parents and son in the manga Fruits Basket (2016), by Natsuki Takaya. The character Kyo and her parents exemplify what theorist Julia Kristeva develop in her work Black Sun (1989), particularly that literary creation as a materialization of bodies and signs, bears witness to sadness, as a mark of separation and as the beginning of the symbolic dimension. It will be discussed here the links between melancholy, love and losses inherent to family relationships in a sh?jo manga. Kyo Sohma belongs to a cursed family that reincarnates the Chinese zodiac animals, for this reason his mother commits suicide and his father rejects him. The character has her life marked by parental neglect during childhood, developing problems that are perpetuated throughout the narrative.

Creative Thinking development from a Psychoanalytic Perspective

Creative critical thinking is a cognitive skill that encompasses the ability to analyze information and experiences objectively, in order to identify the factors that influence a position, behavior, or information and evaluate them. This begins with the ego's ability to self-assess and assimilate information, from recognizing values, positions, standards, beliefs, and the factors that address this information. In addition, Critical thinking is the outcome of creative thinking, contributing to decision-making and problem-solving by allowing the introduction of information as a subject and exploring possible alternatives and their different consequences, beyond one's own personal experience. In this research, we shed light on the development and constructive process of creative thinking and its principles, at the intersection of all the psychological growth outcomes.

Precipitating Factors and Receptivity of Psychoanalytic Treatments among Chinese Americans

ABSTRACT Chinese Americans have been known for underutilization of mental health services and premature termination. This study explores these phenomena through Chinese cultural and psychoanalytical perspectives. Specifically, two sets of factors were identified: precipitating and receptivity factors. The precipitating factors include childrearing practices and pursuit of education by studying abroad at an early age. The receptivity factors include the lack of familiarity with psychoanalysis, the emphasis of efficiency in Chinese culture, shame and stigma associated with mental illness, and the seeming reluctance of this ethnic group to opening up to professional strangers. A brief review of studies on Asian American mental health was conducted. Early termination was further discussed through psychoanalytic concepts and theories including Bion’s maternal reverie, attacks on linking, and container and contained; Winnicott’s primary maternal preoccupation; and Meltzer’s apprehension of beauty and aesthetic conflict.

Care resignification in the pandemic context.

This essay discusses the care process of health professionals in the context of COVID-19 from the perspectives of psychoanalysis, under the prism of Donald Winnicott's transitional space, and of collective health, under the prism of the practical wisdom of José Ricardo Ayres, the micropolitics of live work in action by Emmerson Merhy, and prudent care by Ruben Mattos. It suggests elaborating a care perspective to propose a possible resignification of illness in a pandemic, where health is marked with calamity, health catastrophe, and suffering and anguish, whether in the body or subjectively. In this way, understanding the manifestation of care by health professionals in a pandemic context brought about with narcissistic and heroic meanings and feelings of impotence and helplessness contributes to elaborating a creative conception of care. We conclude that the perspective of expanded care favors the creative possibility of new productions of meaning and support for professionals, resignifying their life experiences through love, creativity, practical wisdom, prudent care, live work in action, and motor imaginary.

Unmasking Marlina: psychoanalytic perspectives on women's supremacy and subordination in Indonesian cinema

Unmasking Marlina: psychoanalytic perspectives on women's supremacy and subordination in Indonesian cinema

Unseen Scars, Unspoken Words: The Perks of Addressing Mental Health in Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower

In the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, the theme of mental health takes center stage, offering a poignant and sensitive exploration of the challenges faced by adolescents struggling with emotional turmoil. The protagonist, Charlie, grapples with past traumas, depression and social anxiety, which profoundly impacts his daily life and relationships. Through Charlie’s candid and introspective narrative, the novel delves into the complexities of mental health, portraying the importance of seeking help and forming supportive connections. This study uses qualitative methodology, employing close textual analysis to examine the mental health challenges faced by the protagonist Charlie, as well as other characters such as Patrick's suppressed pain and Brad’s fear of accepting his identity. The study aims to identify the underlying themes and psychological aspects associated with mental health that are depicted in the novel through an analysis of key passages and character interactions including subtle nuances and implicit meanings by conducting a thorough analysis of the text from a psychoanalytic perspective. Through Chbosky's novel, this research offers a compassionate and authentic depiction of mental health, highlighting the importance of understanding, empathy and personal growth in navigating the challenges of adolescence.

Gendered Psyche: A Psychoanalytical Reading of Jacob Tobia’s Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story

This literary research paper employs psychoanalytic literary theory to delve into the complex interplay between identity formation and transgender experiences in Jacob Tobia’s memoir titled Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story. Through the lens of psychoanalysis, the study aims to unravel the intricate layers of self-discovery, acceptance, and resistance present in the text. By closely examining the text, the paper explores how psychoanalytic concepts like the unconscious, symbolism, and repression contribute to an enriched understanding of transgender characters' psychological landscapes.The analysis focuses on the representation of transgender characters in literature, examining how their narratives echo and diverge from psychoanalytic frameworks such as those proposed by Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. The paper argues that psychoanalytic approaches can shed light on the internal conflicts and external societal pressures that shape transgender identities within the literary realm. Through carefully examining character motivations, symbolism, and narrative structures, the study elucidates how these works engage with psychoanalytic concepts to offer nuanced and empathetic portrayals of transgender experiences.Furthermore, this research explores the broader implications of employing psychoanalytic perspectives in the analysis of transgender literature, contending that such an approach can deepen our understanding of the complex and often subconscious dynamics at play in the construction of gender identity. Drawing connections between psychoanalytic theory and literary representation, this paper contributes to ongoing discussions surrounding the psychological dimensions of transgender experiences in literature, offering insights into the intricate relationship between identity formation and psychoanalytic frameworks within transgender narratives.

Psychoanalysis and its discontents: A view from India

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the ways in which psychoanalytic perspectives may have been limited by the Western cultural context in which they originated and explores the potential of the Indian cultural imagination to broaden psychoanalytic thinking about ego formation, the nature of Eros, bisexuality, and individuation. The case is made for the need to retain the diverse perspectives offered by the cultural imaginations of different civilisations despite the globalization of ideas.