Perversion: Psychoanalytic Perspectives/Perspectives on Psychoanalysis

by Dany Nobus (Editor), Prof. Lisa Downing (Editor)

Perversion--its ubiquity in infantile life and its persistence in the psychical and sexual lives of some adults--was a central element of Freud's lifelong empirical and theoretical work. Many psychoanalytic schools and orientations have since revisited the problem of perversion. Some authors have sharpened the definition of perversion by differentiating it from perverse fantasies, so-called near-perversions, and perverse traits, whereas others have sought to re-conceptualize perversion as an erotic form of hatred, a fixated anal object-relation, or a neo-sexuality. The result is that Freud's original view of perversion has been replaced by a large variety of, often contradictory, psychoanalytic perspectives on its etiology, development, and treatment.

This bi-partite collection of essays offers a series of perspectives on perversion by a range of psychoanalytic practitioners and theorists, and a selection of papers by scholars from related fields who work with, or critique, psychoanalytic theories on perversion.

These unique and invaluable contributions to the study of psychoanalysis, perversion, and culture stage a serious dialogue between the discipline of psychoanalysis and its critics and commentators on the controversial issue of non-normative sexuality. It is essential reading for students and practitioners of psychoanalysis, for cultural critics, and for anyone who wants to know more about the positions occupied by psychoanalysis in contemporary debates about sexuality.

Genres: Psychology

364 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2006

Reviews

[Tobias Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic introduction to (in the first section) divergent and overlapping psychoanalytic theories of perversion; and social political engagement with said theories (in the second). Quite a few reprinted works.