Psychoanalysis and Culture

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 7
• Convenor: to be confirmed
• Assessment: a 4000-word essay on the applications of psychoanalytic thought beyond the clinic (100%)

In this module we look at applications and implications of psychoanalysis in the study of culture, politics and history. The aim is to consider the issues that have surrounded the uses of psychoanalysis in understandings of history and culture, and to examine existing debates about psychoanalysis as a form of historical and cultural understanding.

The underlying assumption is that psychoanalytic ideas have had their primary grounding in the evidence of the clinical consulting room, and have mainly evolved in response to clinical experience. The seminars will explore how concepts which have rich meaning in this primary context can throw light on the social and cultural sphere, and in turn how such applications can have an impact on the development of psychoanalytic theory. The methodological issues involved in making these broader applications, and grounding them in evidence, will be explored as we proceed.