{"product_id":"the-ability-to-mourn-disillusionment-and-the-social-origins-of-psychoanalysis-9780226351117","title":"The Ability to Mourn: Disillusionment and the Social Origins of Psychoanalysis","description":"\u003cp\u003ePeter Homans offers a new understanding of the origins of psychoanalysis and relates the psychoanalytic project as a whole to the sweep of Western culture  past and present. He argues that Freuds fundamental goal was the interpretation of culture and that  therefore  psychoanalysis is fundamentally a humanistic social science. To establish this claim  Homans looks back at Freuds self-analysis in light of the crucial years from 1906 to 1914 when the psychoanalytic movement was formed and shows how these experiences culminated in Freuds cultural texts. By exploring the \"culture of psychoanalysis \" Homans seeks a better understanding of what a \"psychoanalysis of culture\" might be.  Psychoanalysis  Homans shows  originated as a creative response to the withering away of traditional communities and their symbols in the aftermath of the industrial revolution. The loss of these attachments played a crucial role in the lives of the founders of psychoanalysis  especially Sigmund Freud but also Karl Abraham  Carl Jung  Otto Rank  and Ernest Jones. The personal  political  and religious losses that these figures experienced  the introspection that followed  and the psychological discovery that resulted are what Homans calls \"the ability to mourn.\"  Homans expands this historical analysis to construct a general model of psychological discovery: the loss of shared ideals and symbols can produce a deeper sense of self (psychological structure-building  or individuation) and can then lead to the creation of new forms of meaning and self-understanding. He shows how Freud  Jung  and other psychoanalysts began to extend their introspection outward  reinterpreting the meanings of Western art  history  and religion. In conclusion  Homans evaluates Freuds theory of culture and discusses the role that psychoanalysis might play in social and cultural criticism.  Throughout the book  Homans makes use of the many histories  biographies  and psychobiographies that have been written about the origins of psychoanalysis  drawing them into a comprehensive sociocultural model. Rich in insights and highly original in approach  this work will interest psychoanalysts and students of Freud  sociologists concerned with modernity and psychoanalysis  and cultural critics in the fields of religion  anthropology  political science  and social history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45651957186613,"sku":"ByrdShop_0226351114","price":180.93,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780226351117.jpg?v=1781847501","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-ability-to-mourn-disillusionment-and-the-social-origins-of-psychoanalysis-9780226351117","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}