Overview
This is a book to which the attention of students of art theory and criticism, and all those interested in the important application of psychoanalysis to other fields of study, should be drawn. "Psychoanalytic Aesthetics" rethinks the classical account of the relation between art and madness, creativity and psychoneurosis, and the distinction between the primary and secondary processes. It covers a great deal of ground and reviews many psychoanalytic writers (predominantly of the British tradition) on aesthetics, as well as many of the aestheticians using a psychoanalytic background. It is well written and there is an impressive grasp of the many writers covered. More than this, the book is also a work of psychoanalytic scholarship, being a masterly overview of psychoanalytic schools of thought, and an in-depth study of the British object-relations schools. It amply achieves its overriding goal to demonstrate that the work of the British School presents a significant contribution to psychoanalytic aesthetics and criticism, updating Freud, Kris and the classical contributions to the field. It is therefore potentially a very useful source book for future scholars of both psychoanalysis and of aesthetics.Synopsis
This is a book to which the attention of students of art theory and criticism, and all those interested in the important application of psychoanalysis to other fields of study, should be drawn. "Psychoanalytic Aesthetics" rethinks the classical account of the relation between art and madness, creativity and psychoneurosis, and the distinction between the primary and secondary processes. It covers a great deal of ground and reviews many psychoanalytic writers (predominantly of the British tradition) on aesthetics, as well as many of the aestheticians using a psychoanalytic background. It is well written and there is an impressive grasp of the many writers covered. More than this, the book is also a work of psychoanalytic scholarship, being a masterly overview of psychoanalytic schools of thought, and an in-depth study of the British object-relations schools. It amply achieves its overriding goal to demonstrate that the work of the British School presents a significant contribution to psychoanalytic aesthetics and criticism, updating Freud, Kris and the classical contributions to the field. It is therefore potentially a very useful source book for future scholars of both psychoanalysis and of aesthetics.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"When I was a student, philosophy in America, as well as Britain, was dominated by British Analytic Philosophy. To a degree this is still the case, but not as much as it once was. One thing this philosophy did was insist upon very strict boundaries. Many good discussions were brought to a halt by someone’s saying, ‘That’s not philosophy; that’s religion!’ or ‘That’s not philosophy: that’s psychology!’ But it turns out we simply cannot discuss Munch, or Hopper, or Picasso, while ignoring psychological considerations. So Glover’s very readable work is invaluable.”“British psycho-analytic thinkers in a class of their own, where the theoretical cannot develop meaningfully unless it is anchored in the ‘sagacity of the body’—the partnership of body and mind, when the head and the heart are working together—whose crucible is the new mother, with her new child, developing and being developed by each other through interplay.”
“This is a book to which the attention of students of art theory and criticism, and all those interested in the important application of psychoanalysis to other fields of study, should be drawn. Psychoanalytic Aesthetics rethinks the classical account of the relation between art and madness, creativity and psychoneurosis, and the distinction between the primary and secondary processes. It covers a great deal of ground and reviews many psychoanalytic writers (predominantly of the British tradition) on aesthetics, as well as many of the aestheticians using a psychoanalytic background. It is well written and there is an impressive grasp of the many writers covered. More than this, the book is also a work of psychoanalytic scholarship, being a masterly overview of psychoanalytic schools of thought, and an in-depth study of the British object-relations schools. It amply achieves its overriding goal to demonstrate that the work of the British School presents a significant contribution to psychoanalytic aesthetics and criticism, updating Freud, Kris and the classical contributions to the field. It is therefore potentially a very useful source book for future scholars of both psychoanalysis and of aesthetics.”