Freud Along the Ganges

by Akhtar, Salman

• ISBN13: 9781590510902
• ISBN10: 1590510909
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-17
• Publisher: Other Press

Summary

Winner of the 2006 Gradiva Award A collection of new and previously-published essays that sheds light on the intersections between psychoanalysis and Indic Studies. While Indian academics and clinicians have been familiar with psychoanalysis for many decades, they have kept this Western model of the mind separate from the spiritual and philosophical traditions of their own country. Freud Along the Ganges bridges this important lacuna in psychoanalytic and Indic studies by creating a new theoretical field where human motives are approached not only psychoanalytically but also from the perspective of the teachings of Buddha, Tagore, Ghandi, and Salman Rushdie. The authors of this collection show how the insights of these Indian masters give a new force to the Freudian discovery by providing a basis to better understand the social and psychological Indian makeup. The book begins by questioning the applicability of the psychoanalytic method to non-Western cultures. It then traces the history of the psychoanalytic movement in India from its onset while it emphasizes the intricate overlap between Indian existential and mystical traditions and psychoanalysis. Freud Along the Ganges offers a unique study of the ways that Indian thought and psychoanalysis illuminate and enrich each other.

Author Biography

Dr. Salman Akhtar

Dr. Salman Akhtar is the author of numerous books, including New Clinical Realms: Pushing the Envelope of Theory and Technique and The Three Faces of Mourning: Melancholia, Manic Defense, and Moving On. He is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Contributors	xiii
Preface	xv
Prologue
Psychoanalysis in India	3	(26)
Salman Akhtar
Pratyusha Tummala-Narra
Mind
The Development of Gandhi's Self	29	(24)
Prakash N. Desai
Hyman L. Muslin
Rabindranath Tagore and Freudian Thought	53	(26)
Santanu Biswas
Multiple Mothering and the Familial Self	79	(12)
Alan Roland
Hindu-Muslim Relations in India: Past, Present, and Future	91	(48)
Salman Akhtar
Bollywood and the Indian Unconscious	139	(38)
Salman Akhtar
Komal Choksi
Body
The Cloistered Passion of Radha and Krishna	177	(28)
Sudhir Kakar
John Munder Ross
Sita-Shakti @ Cultural Collision: Issues in the Psychotherapy of Diaspora Indian Women	205	(30)
Jaswant Guzder
Meenakshi Krishna
Psychic Bisexuality, Male Homosexuality, Plural Oedipus Complex, and Hinduism	235	(36)
Bhaskar Sripada
Spirit
Manifestations of God in India: A Transference Pantheon	271	(38)
Dwarakanath G. Rao
Psychoanalytic Process in a Sacred Hindu Text: The Bhagavad Gita	309	(26)
Satish Reddy
Psychoanalytic and Buddhist History and Theory	335	(24)
Jeffrey B. Rubin
Advaita Vedanta, Psychoanalysis, and the Self	359	(38)
Madhusudana Rao Vallabhaneni
Epilogue
The Ganges River: Metaphor and Mythopoeisis	397	(28)
Prajna Paramita Prasher
Index	425