Transferences: The Aesthetics and Poetics of the Therapeutic Relationship

Description

Why are psychoanalysts fascinated with literature and other arts? And why do so many novels, plays, films, and television series feature therapy sessions? Transferences investigates the interdisciplinary attraction between psychoanalysis and the arts by exploring the therapeutic relationship as a recurring figure in psychoanalytic discourse, literature, theater, and television. In addition to close readings of psychoanalytic and critical texts, the book presents a new approach to examining psychoanalytic themes and formal devices in texts like Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint, J. M. Coetzee’s Life & Times of Michael K, Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace, Peter Shaffer’s Equus, and the HBO series In Treatment. Transferences argues that psychoanalysts as well as writers and other artists are fascinated by the therapeutic relationship because it provides a unique site to negotiate the narrative and artistic underpinnings of psychoanalysis and reflect and reinvent the aesthetic and poetic potentiality of art. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments Part 1: Introduction Chapter 1: Psychoanalysis and the Arts Practical poetry The art of the therapeutic relationship The therapeutic relationship in the arts Art and (psycho)analysis Chapter 2: The Therapeutic Relationship Introduction: Lessons from Dora The setting Virtuality: Transference as weapon and as instrument Neutrality: Transference and the analytic stance Mastery: Countertransference as interference and as instrument Elasticity: Countertransference and the analytic stance The relational matrix The analytic third The bi-personal field Conclusion Part 2: Discourses in Dialogue: The Aesthetics and Poetics of Therapeutic Relationships Chapter 3: The Art of the Therapeutic Relationship: Psychoanalytic Aesthetics Introduction: Psychoanalysis as aesthetic experience Transference texts Characters The psychoanalytic space-time continuum Constructions Poetry Theater Storytelling Dialogue Analysis Seriality Conclusion Chapter 4: Art as (Therapeutic) Relationship: Relational Models of Creativity, Reading, and Interpretation Introduction: Art as relational experience? Creative neurotics and analytic artists Creation as relational act Relationships in reading The mechanics and metaphors of literary transference The analyst/critic and the text/patient Suspicious interpretation and psychoanalytic dialogue Fabula sana and anti-narrative The therapeutic promise of art The transmedial analogy Conclusion Part 3: Reading Relationships: Therapy in Literature, Theater, and Television Chapter 5: “I’m Telling Everything”: Psychoanalytic Gameplay in Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint Introduction: Playing with therapy Power games: Alexander Portnoy and Dr. Otto Spielvogel The fundamental rules of the game: Portnoy’s psychoanalytic aesthetics Role-play in Spielvogel’s Chair: Analysis as creative process Conclusion Chapter 6: “A Gap, a Hole, a Darkness”: Epistemic Desire in J. M. Coetzee’s Life & Times of Michael K Introduction: Therapeutic epistemology Imprisonment: Michael K and Medical Officer Gaps in experience: The diary as apostrophe and reverie Author, physician, conquistador: K’s escape from the story Conclusion Chapter 7: “To Keep the Sultan Amused”: Scheherazadian Narration in Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace Introduction: Puzzle pieces Folie à deux: Grace Marks and Dr. Simon Jordan Alias Scheherazade: Multiple perspective disorder and stitching serial evasion Storytelling à deux: Split authorship and entangled readers Conclusion Chapter 8: “Act It Out, If You Like”: Anti- and Stage-Psychiatry in Peter Shaffer’s Equus Introduction: Anti-psychiatry Matters of faith: Alan Strang and Dr. Martin Dysart Dysart’s therapeutic stage: Acting out in epic therapy Dysart’s artistic doubts: Spectatorship as supervision and interpretive side effects Conclusion Chapter 9: “Locked in a Room, Listening”: Talk-Show Therapy and Co-Construction in In Treatment Introduction: Talk-show therapy Supervision: Dr. Paul Weston, Dr. Gina Toll, and Dr. Adele Brouse Television treatment: Serial settings and talking heads Co-treatment: Analysis as co-production Conclusion Part 4: Conclusion Notes Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Works Cited Therapy in Literature and Theater Index