Bringing bodies back in: for a phenomenological and psychoanalytic film criticism of embodied cultural identity

This article reassesses the concept of identification in line with the increased importance phenomenology has taken on in film-philosophy of the 1990s and 2000s. In the 1970s and 1980s, a Lacanian psychoanalytic interpretation of identification dominated film theory and criticism, and spectatorial engagement with elements of films was understood as what psychoanalysis calls secondary identification – the identification with stable subject-positions (characters) in the film-text. But non-Lacanian psychoanalysis and Merleau-Ponty’s existential phenomenology offer film-philosophy a very different understanding of identification as a non image-based, ‘blind’, bodily affective tie that is established between spectators and what Vivian Sobchack describes as ‘the sense and sensibility of materiality itself’ (Sobchack 2004, 65). By first exploring how this more bodily (for psychoanalysis, primary) identification is theorized by psychoanalysts (Freud, Paul Schilder, Henri Wallon) and by film theorists (Kaja Silverman), the article proposes that film criticism make greater use of it in order to engage more meaningfully with the visible cultural specificities – size, skin colour, age, sex – of the images of bodies viewed on cinema screens. It is not just ‘the’ body that needs bringing back into thinking about film spectatorship, but culturally differentiated bodies, both on the screen and in the auditorium. A psychoanalytic and phenomenological film criticism of embodied cultural identity, one that attends to the materiality of the film and of the body-images and objects on the screen, may be the most culturally and politically useful successor to ‘screen’ theory of the 1970s and 1980s

Критика психоаналітичної методології (до питання про обґрунтування психоаналізу як герменевтики)

В статті надається аналіз критики психоаналітичної теорії та практики К. Попером, А. Грюнбаумом, П. Рікером та Ю. Габермасом. Ця критика стимулювала пошук нових методологічних засад психоаналізу. На думку автора, сучасному розвитку культури якнайбільше відповідає герменевтичний варіант психоаналізу. Автор стверджує можливість подання психоаналітичної практики, яка має інтерпретативний характер, як особливого роду герменевтичної практики.The article gives an analysis of the criticism of the psychoanalytic theory and practice of K. Popper, A. Grunbaum, P. Ricuer and J. Habermas. This criticism stimulates the search of the new methodological basis of the psychoanalysis. In authors opinion modern development of culture corresponds with most of all the hermeneutical version of psychoanalysis. The author states a possibility of the representation of psychoanalytic practice which has an interpretative character as a special type of hermeneutic

Concerning bodies [stream convenors and panel chairs]

The 'Concerning Bodies' stream is a collaboration with Eric Daffron (USA) and Becky McLaughlin (USA) that is part of the London Conference of Critical Thought, Royal Holloway University of London, 6-7 June 2013. The stream has two parallel strands detailed below: Stream Title: Concerning Bodies This stream has two points of focus: firstly, the representation, and ethical implications, of bodies (both human and animal) in visual cultures and, secondly, the account of the body (and body parts) in Lacan and Foucault. Papers are invited that address any of the concerns detailed under these two headings: The Body and Ethics – Dead or Alive (Angela Bartram and Mary O'Neill): The body is an important site for analysis of the physical and the social condition. Whether human or animal, the body provides information and experience that communicates what it is to be alive – even in death. This has made the body a source material to be analyzed, scrutinized, dissected, and surveyed in the pursuit of knowledge. The human and animal body has historically been used in medical studies, art education, as a donor material, for reference, and creative practice. The appropriateness of the use of bodies in medical enquiry has historically been sanctioned because it has educational benefit. Could the same level of permission be applied to artistic enquiry? What legislates the appropriate use of the dead body in anatomy and biomedical classes and procedures? What informs the decision that the life room is a place for studies of the live human body only? What ethics govern artistic studies of the socio-physical body in art education and creative practice? We seek papers that discuss the role of critical theory in our understanding of the use of the body in visual culture both historical and contemporary, including, but not limited to: • somataphobia, • scopophilia, • scopophobia, • dissection, • necrophobia, • taxidermy Body Parts and Partial Bodies; Body Cuts and Cut Up Bodies: Lacanian and Foucaultian Approaches (Becky McLaughlin and Eric Daffron): Both Jacques Lacan and Michel Foucault took the body as an object of critical inquiry but explored it in divergent ways. This panel will bring together scholars working from Lacanian and/or Foucaultian perspectives to interrogate not simply the body but, more specifically, parts of the body. Collectively, the papers selected for this panel will aspire to answer, among other questions: How do Lacan and Foucault cut up the body, what new forms of subjectivity emerge when we pay attention to particular body parts, and how can we bring Lacanian and Foucaultian theory to bear on ethical concerns about the body? Topics for paper proposals include but are not limited to: • fragmented bodies and bodily decomposition • mirror stage and self reflection • self-abuse and body cutting • disciplined and "docile" bodies • torture and punishment • "subindividuals" • sexuality, sexuation, and oversexed bodies • "technologies of the self" • the voice, the gaze, and the fetish • spanking and other sex games • amputation and disability • addiction and obsession, medicine and therap

Les 'abus' de la psychanalyse dans 'L'enfance d'un chef' de Jean-Paul Sartre

This study shows, up to what point Jean Paul Sartre was liable to Sigmund Freud, despite his criticism of psychoanalysis as a system of thought in the structure of 'The Childhood of a Leader' (L'Enfance d 'un chef) published in 1939.peer-reviewe

Psychosocial Studies and Psychology: Is a Critical Approach Emerging?

This article describes a brand of 'psychosocial studies' that adopts a critical attitude towards psychology as a whole, yet remains rooted in an attempt to theorize the 'psychological subject'. Principles for psychosocial studies work of this kind are discussed, arising out of the actual work of one academic centre within a university department of psychology. These principles are: concern with the human subject as a social entity; interest in the emergence of subjectivity in the social domain; interest in critique, defined as a concern with ideological issues in psychology; methodological pluralism, including an active assertion of the value of qualitative and theoretical research, as well as more traditional quantitative research; theoretical pluralism, including interest in discourses traditionally marginalized in academic psychology (e.g. psychoanalysis, systems theory, feminist theory, phenomenology); interest in inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to psychological theory and research; and interest in personal and social change, including psychotherapy. Some complicating issues relating to the process and content of this kind of work are also outlined

Psychoanalysis and neurosciences: fuzzy outlines? Notes on the notion of cerebral plasticity

“Psychoanalysis versus psychiatry” and “unconscious versus brain” are classic oppositions between different perspectives on the human being and mental suffering. This article draws on certain elements of this discussion and reflects on how new ideas about the brain and biology favor closer interaction between psychoanalysis and the neurosciences. These questions are redefined through the notion of cerebral plasticity, by which the brain is open to interaction with the social environment and the influence of psychoanalytical therapy. Conceiving of the brain as a plastic organ allows for the possibility of interchange between psychoanalysis and the neurosciences.Fil: Mantilla, Maria Jimena. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones ; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

An Analysis of Depression on the Main Character Kyle Kingson on the Beastly Film.

This research is a literary criticism which uses psychological approach. It employs a literary criticism because the writer conducts discussion of literary works which is related with the personality of the main character in the Beastly film namely Kyle Kingson. The findings showed that there are five symptoms of depression from the main character Kyle Kingson namely, (1) feeling sad or unhappy, (2) loss of interest or pleasure daily activity that be loved before, (3) easy to be angry or easy to be offended, (4) difficult to take decision, less to concentrate, (5) feeling worthless, guilty and always thinking about past failures. Moreover, Kyle can solve his depression by himself and Zola and Will make Kyle confidence with his ugly face

Contemporary psychoanalytic applications: Development and its vicissitudes

The contemporary relevance of psychoanalysis is being increasingly questioned; Off the Couch challenges this view, demonstrating that psychoanalytic thinking and its applications are both innovative and relevant, in particular to the management and treatment of more disturbed and difficult to engage patient groups. Chapters address: Clinical applications in diverse settings across the age range the relevance of psychoanalytic thinking to the practice of CBT, psychosomatics and general psychiatry the contribution of psychoanalytic thinking to mental health policy and the politics of conflict and mediation. This book suggests that psychoanalysis has a vital position within the public health sector and discusses how it can be better utilised in the treatment of a range of mental health problems. It also highlights the role of empirical research in providing a robust evidence base. Off the Couch will be essential reading for those practicing in the field of mental health and will also be useful for anyone involved in the development of mental health and public policies. It will ensure that practitioners and supervisors have a clear insight into how psychoanalysis can be applied in general healthcare