Self In India Research Articles

Modernity from Elsewhere: Psychoanalysis, Ethnography, and Speculative Horizons of Self-Assertion

Modernity from Elsewhere: Psychoanalysis, Ethnography, and Speculative Horizons of Self-Assertion

A Possible Psychology of ‘Selves’ in India? Reflections Enthused by a Chronic Dissenter

Ashis Nandy’s works have been read predominantly in the context of his observations on South Asian culture, politics and history. The present essay focuses on whether Nandy’s understanding of the self as an inseparable part of the collective culture and incorporating the past and future in the present may enrich thinking within mainstream psychology. Nandy consistently draws a distinction between the self as a product of modern enlightenment and the self that harbours within it the ambiguities and contradictions, often seen in traditional societies. Nandy believes that the former subtly breeds a kind of violence in the name of scientific hegemony, while the latter is more tolerant of human folly and idiosyncrasies. The present article discusses three categories of responses to modernity: from psychoanalytical perspective, from Indian psychology trying to retrieve ancient texts and from postmodernism, and contextualizes Nandy within these approaches. Three aspects of Nandy’s conceptualization of self have been discussed here: the storied self, the atemporal self and the mythical self. Finally, the utilization of such discourse for a possible pluralism to be introduced in mainstream psychology of self in India has been considered.

In Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a Cross-Cultural Psychology

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article ArticleNo AccessIn Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a Cross-Cultural PsychologyJOE YAMAMOTOJOE YAMAMOTOSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Apr 2006https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.147.7.940AboutSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail "In Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a Cross-Cultural Psychology." American Journal of Psychiatry, 147(7), pp. 940–941 Access content To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access. Personal login Institutional Login Sign in via OpenAthens Purchase Save for later Item saved, go to cart PPV Articles - American Journal of Psychiatry $35.00 Add to cart PPV Articles - American Journal of Psychiatry Checkout Please login/register if you wish to pair your device and check access availability. Not a subscriber? Subscribe Now / Learn More PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5 library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development. Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.). FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited byNone Volume 147Issue 7 July 1990Pages 940-941 Metrics History Published online 1 April 2006 Published in print 1 July 1990

Book Review: "In Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a Cross-Cultural Psychology"

Book Review: "In Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a Cross-Cultural Psychology"

Review of In Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a Cross-Cultural Psychology.

Review of In Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a Cross-Cultural Psychology.

In search of self in India and Japan: toward a cross-cultural psychology

In search of self in India and Japan: toward a cross-cultural psychology

In Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a Cross-Cultural Psychology.

Drawing on work with Indian and Japanese patients, a prominent American psychoanalyst explores inner worlds that are markedly different from the Western psyche. A series of fascinating case studies illustrates Alan Roland's argument: the "familial self," rooted in the subtle emotional hierarchical relationships of the family and group, predominates in Indian and Japanese psyches and contrasts strongly with the Western "individualized self." In perceptive and sympathetic terms Roland describes the emotional problems that occur when Indians and Japanese encounter Western culture and the resulting successful integration of new patterns that he calls the "expanding self." Of particular interest are descriptions of the special problems of women in changing society and of the paradoxical relationship of the "spiritual self" of Indians and Japanese to the "familial self." Also described is Roland's own response to the broadening of his emotional and intellectual horizons as he talked to patients and supervised therapists in India and Japan. "As we were coming in for a landing to Bombay," he writes, "the plane banked so sharply that when I supposedly looked down all I could see were the stars, while if I looked up, there were the lights of the city." This is the "world turned upside down" that he describes so eloquently in this book. What he has learned will fascinate those who wish to deepen their understanding of a different way of being.