Nation on the Couch: Inside South Africa's Mind

by Wahbie Long

Provocative, insightful and brilliantly written by Professor Wahbie Long, Nation on the Couch explores life in our beloved country through the lens of psychoanalysis. By focusing on the idea of a ‘political unconscious’, it argues that there is much to be learnt from excavating the inner life of South Africans, which can illuminate the external problems that beset us from all sides. It will challenge readers to rethink the way we see ourselves, why we do what we do and why we are who we are.  

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology

215 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 9, 2021

Reviews

[SammiKoalaReads]

This book sought to argue that social commentary that we consume in day to day news cannot go further than description and thus cannot offer us as readers the explanations we all crave.

Rightly so Wahbie Long points out that there may be readers who may take issue with the psychologisation of social issues

However this book has several instances of inflammatory statements that I caution against. If one doesn’t read it with a critical eye but rather takes in all that is on the page as is - I dunno. It didn’t sit well with me. For this reason I will not be giving it a rating and I don’t recommend it unless you come in eyes wide open and ready to feel uncomfortable about some statements made.

[Gerhard Pietersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful, Provocative, Equipping

Brilliantly written by Professor Wahbie Long, Nation on the Couch explores life in post apartheid South Africa, through the lens of psychoanalysis. There are many political and social commentaries on post-apartheid South Africa but few – if any – psychological ones. By focusing on the idea of a ‘political unconscious’, it argues that there is much to be learnt from excavating the inner life of South Africans, which can illuminate the external problems that beset us from all sides. I found the pressing social issues like senseless violence, as we would often describe it, as manifestations of socio-emotional impulses – vey insightful, specifically, shame, envy and impasse. Conversantly, these notions serves to protect respect, freedom and safety.

The work challenged me as a white middle class Christian reader, who grew up in Apartheid and who transitioned as a young adult under the legacy of Nelson Mandela.

I do not agree with his uncritical embrace of a Marxist approach, but it does help the reader to analyze the politically unconscious mind. The danger with the theory is it paints broad strokes over what is our understanding of black or white people , and how it’s simplicity further stereotypes people, which is exactly the dilemma and deep social trauma that apartheid caused. He himself is unconscious of the fact that dominance in Africa is pre-colonial and still existing in modern Africa as “tribalism.” One has to ask if every societal problem can be related back to master - slave dynamic? What about individual responsibility? Are there really no integrated societies in South Africa? Are all white people still in elite jobs? In leadership? Is taking land really going to solve all malidy’s?

However, the chapter on hope offers a real picture, a small window of hope for South Africa: a stupendous commitment to the Golden rule of respect and empathy for one another in the face of paramount uncertainty. We cannot change the past, but we can learn to walk side by side next to it.

I would recommend it strongly and a book that serves as a great conversation starter.

[Pete Farlam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wahbie Long, a psychology professor at UCT, really challenges us as South Africans to rethink the relationship between ourselves as individuals (and psychologists) and the broader society, with all its myriad problems. Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Michel Foucault, Melanie Klein, Franz Fanon, Steve Biko, Adam Habib ... the list of interesting and challenging thinkers / writers is endless. But he also weaves in popular culture in the form of novels, movies, stories, religion and what he has produced is the most thought-provoking book I've read this year. Read it. Discuss it. Recommend it to friends.

[Harald Winkler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating attempt to apply psychological analysis to politics - and a deeply troubled patient, South Africa. Wahbie Long examines envy, shame and hope in our collective unconscious. It’s a very ambitious project, and I did not find all parts compelling, but this novel kind of analysis is sorely needed. A chapter on dogs and why white SAns love so much is a must-read. Despite misgivings about the role of religion in society, interestingly Long ends with advocating for the Golden Rule

[Ad Wegner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book every South African should read. Content is relevant and enlightening. But I struggled to get through it as it was not an easy read. Not because of the content, I just found the writing not easy to digest for a layman on psychotherapy matters.

[Azu Rikka · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5☆
I was greatly interested in this book, since I heard about it, but had to wait until Central library of Cape Town had it available.
As a whole, I found it to be a very important book with valuable analysis, ideas and rhetorics.
For me, it was often a bit too academic and at times the author went into too much detail to make a point (e.g student riots in chapter envy and the psycho-political significance of dogs in people's lives in chapter impasse).
The concept of this book should be taught in South African schools, it could be a tool for change...