Bibliographic Information

Hysteria

Christopher Bollas

Routledge, 2000

  • :pbk.

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [180]-182) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Hysteria has disappeared from contemporary culture only insofar as it has been subjected to a repression through the popular diagnosis of 'borderline personality disorder'. In Hysteria the distinguished psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas offers an original and illuminating theory of hysteria that weaves its well-known features - repressed sexual ideas; indifference to conversion; over-identification with the other - into the hysteric form. Through a rereading of Freud, Bollas argues that sexuality in itself is traumatic to all children, as it 'destroys' the relation to the mother, transfiguring her from 'mamma', the infant's caregiver, to 'mother', the child's and father's sex object. For the hysteric this recognition is endlessly traumatic and the hysterical personality forms itself into an organised opposition to this knowledge. True to his earlier writings, Bollas' vision is thought provoking and mind expanding. Hysteria brings new perspectives to long-standing ideas, making enlightening reading for students and professionals involved in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy alike, as well as the lay reader who takes an interest in the formation of personality in western culture.

Table of Contents

Introduction. The Characters of Psychoanalysis. Sexual Epiphany. Sexuality and its Transformations. In the Beginning is the Mother. Erotising Absence. Functions of the Father. The Seduction of the Story. Hot and Cold. Showing Off. Self as Theatre. The Malignant Hysteric. Transference Addicts. Seduction and the Therapist. The Last Chapter. References. Index.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

  • NCID
    BA50711977
  • ISBN
    • 0415220335
  • LCCN
    99038081
  • Country Code
    uk
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    London ; New York
  • Pages/Volumes
    192 p.
  • Size
    24 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
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