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As Freud predicted, there has always been great anxiety about the
place of psychoanalysis in contemporary life, particularly in
relation to its ambiguous and complicated relationship to the realm
of science. There is also a long history of widespread resistance,
in both academia and medicine, to anything associated with the
world of the supernatural; very few people, in their professional
lives, at least, are willing to admit a serious interest in occult
phenomena. As a result, paranormal traces have all but vanished
from the psychoanalytic process though not without leaving a
residue. This residue remains, Brottman argues, in the acceptably
clinical guise of projective identification, a concept first
formulated by Melanie Klein, and widely used in contemporary
psychoanalysis to suggest a different variety of transference and
transference-like phenomena between patient and analyst that seem
to occur outside the normal range of the sensory process.In this
book, Brottman considers the nature and implications of the
connections between projective identification and
thought-transference, as well as the slightly embarrassing
associations between ordinary psychoanalysis and telepathy. Her
project, then, is to adumbrate the implications of the
psychoanalytic notion of projective identification, with particular
reference to the ways in which this concept can be considered a
doorway from the traditional realm of psychoanalysis into the realm
of the occult and paranormal. In particular, she considers the
connections between projective identification and mind-reading,
clairvoyance, and other well-known paranormal phenomena."
Why are jokes funny? Why do we laugh? In "Funny Peculiar, " Mikita
Brottman demurs from recent scholarship that takes laughter-- and
the broader domain of humor and the comical--as a liberating social
force and an endearing aspect of self-expression. For Brottman,
there is nothing funny about laughter, which is less connected to
mirth and feelings of good will than to a nexus of darker emotions:
fear, aggression, shame, anxiety.
Brottman rethinks not only the mechanisms of humor but also the
relation of humor to the body and the senses. To this end, she
provides an engrossing account of the life and work of Gershon
Legman, exiled author, publisher, and sexologist, Alfred Kinsey's
first bibliographer, and legendary compiler of the dirty joke. Like
Freud, Legman was convinced of the impossibility of understanding
humor apart from sex, and Brottman shows how his two massive works
on the subject, "Rationale of the Dirty Joke" and "No Laughing
Matter, " provide a framework for understanding the ambivalent and
often hostile impulses that underlie the comic impulse in its
various guises. In lively and enlivening chapters, she traverses
dirty jokes, the figure of the "evil clown" in popular culture, the
current popularity of "humor therapy," changing fashions in
stand-up comedy, and the connection between humor and horror.
Brottman's sparkling prose, laced with wit, does not obscure the
seriousness of "Funny Peculiar." It is a thoughtful and
wide-ranging elaboration of the Freudian claim that joking, in
point of fact, is no laughing matter.
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Ted Serios: The Mind's Eye (Paperback)
Ted Serios; Foreword by Paul Roth; Text written by Mikita Brottman, Clément Chéroux, Mark Alice Durant, …
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R1,009
Discovery Miles 10 090
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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As Freud predicted, there has always been great anxiety about the
place of psychoanalysis in contemporary life, particularly in
relation to its ambiguous and complicated relationship to the realm
of science. There is also a long history of widespread resistance,
in both academia and medicine, to anything associated with the
world of the supernatural; very few people, in their professional
lives, at least, are willing to admit a serious interest in occult
phenomena. As a result, paranormal traces have all but vanished
from the psychoanalytic process - though not without leaving a
residue. This residue remains, the author argues, in the acceptably
"clinical" guise of projective identification, a concept first
formulated by Melanie Klein, and widely used in contemporary
psychoanalysis to suggest a different variety of transference and
transference-like phenomena between patient and analyst that seem
to occur outside the normal range of the sensory process.
Why are jokes funny? Why do we laugh? In Funny Peculiar, Mikita
Brottman demurs from recent scholarship that takes laughter-- and
the broader domain of humor and the comical--as a liberating social
force and an endearing aspect of self-expression. For Brottman,
there is nothing funny about laughter, which is less connected to
mirth and feelings of good will than to a nexus of darker emotions:
fear, aggression, shame, anxiety. Brottman rethinks not only the
mechanisms of humor but also the relation of humor to the body and
the senses. To this end, she provides an engrossing account of the
life and work of Gershon Legman, exiled author, publisher, and
sexologist, Alfred Kinsey's first bibliographer, and legendary
compiler of the dirty joke. Like Freud, Legman was convinced of the
impossibility of understanding humor apart from sex, and Brottman
shows how his two massive works on the subject, Rationale of the
Dirty Joke and No Laughing Matter, provide a framework for
understanding the ambivalent and often hostile impulses that
underlie the comic impulse in its various guises. In lively and
enlivening chapters, she traverses dirty jokes, the figure of the
"evil clown" in popular culture, the current popularity of "humor
therapy," changing fashions in stand-up comedy, and the connection
between humor and horror. Brottman's sparkling prose, laced with
wit, does not obscure the seriousness of Funny Peculiar. It is a
thoughtful and wide-ranging elaboration of the Freudian claim that
joking, in point of fact, is no laughing matter.
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Hyena (Paperback, New)
Mikita Brottman
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R404
R367
Discovery Miles 3 670
Save R37 (9%)
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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In almost every culture, hyenas are regarded as nasty, scheming
charlatans, skulking in the back alleyways of the animal kingdom.
Scorned as little more than scavenging carrion-eaters, vandals and
thieves, since the earliest times hyenas have been both mistreated
and misunderstood. In her new account Mikita Brottman offers an
alternative view, showing that the hyena is in fact a complex,
intelligent and highly sociable creature. Hyena investigates
representations of this fascinating animal throughout history.
Shrouded in taboo, it has been the source of talismanic objects
since at least the ancient Greek and Roman Empires. Many cultures
have used parts of the hyena, including excrement, blood, genitalia
and hair, to make charms that both avert evil and promise
fertility. The book also considers depictions of the hyena in
contemporary popular fiction, from The Lion King to The Life of Pi.
Despite its reputation the hyena is an intriguing animal with many
distinctive and unusual qualities. This book is, in part, an
attempt to restore the hyena's tarnished reputation. Richly
illustrated, Hyena is aimed at all animal-lovers with an interest
in the unusual and the offbeat.
A scholar, psychoanalyst, and cultural critic explores the
multifaceted role dogs play in our world in this charming bestiary
of dogs from literature, lore, and life.
Mikita Brottman wonders, just why is reading so great? It's a
solitary practice, one that takes away from time that could be
spent developing important social networking skills. Reading's not
required for health, happiness, or a loving family. And, if reading
is so important, why are catchy slogans like "Reading Changes
Lives" and "Champions Read" needed to hammer the point home?
Fearlessly tackling the notion that nonreaders are doomed to lives
of despair and mental decay, Brottman makes the case that the value
of reading lies not in its ability to ward off Alzheimer's or that
it's a pleasant hobby. Rather, she argues that like that other
well-known, solitary vice, masturbation, reading is ultimately not
an act of pleasure but a tool for self-exploration, one that allows
people to see the world through the eyes of others and lets them
travel deep into the darkness of the human condition.
Brottman offers up a study of movies so offensive, some are
practically unwatchable. From the ever-popular "Faces of Death"
movies to purported snuff films, from classic B-movies such as "The
Tingler, " to more popular but no less controversial films such as
The "Texas Chainsaw Massacre, " Brottman takes a wide-eyed look at
movies most folks watch only through parted fingers.
While most critics have been quick to dismiss such films as mere
shock-fests (if they even bother to talk about them at all),
Brottman argues that these movies tell us quite a bit about who we
are as a society, what makes us anxious, and what taboos we truly
believe cannot be crossed. Part anthropology, part psychoanalysis,
"Offensive Films" vivisects these movies in order to figure out
just what about them is so offensive, obscene, or bizarre. In the
end, Brottman proves that these films, shunned from the cinematic
canon, work on us in sophisticated ways we often choose to remain
unaware of.
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