Thinking art and psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis has always wandered outside the consulting room. Freud and his followers wrote on art, creativity, politics and war. This collection returns to those themes and sheds light on how cultural questions can be addressed by a closer dialogue between the clinical and academic psychoanalytic traditions. Culture and the Unconsciousis a major contribution to the development of these debates, bringing together internationally known analysts and academic researchers in a single volume to produce innovative explorations of creativity, culture and the unconscious. The contributors draw on perspectives from a wide range of psychoanalytic theories and traditions to explore an array of classical and popular cultural forms, from literature to opera, drama, music and cinema. Together with the scene-setting introductions, the chapters open up fascinating conversations between art, academia and psychoanalysis, revealing the distinctive approaches of each and emphasising points of commonality and divergence.