Memories and Monsters explores the nature of the monstrous or uncanny, and the way psychological trauma relates to memory and narration. This interdisciplinary book works on the borderland between psychology and philosophy, drawing from scholars in both fields who have helped mould the bourgeoning field of relational psychoanalysis and phenomenological and existential psychology. The editors have sought out contributions to this field that speak to the pressing question: how are we to attend to and contend with our monsters?

The authors in this volume examine the ways in which we might best relate to our monsters, and how the legacies of ancient traumas and anxieties continue to affect our current stories, memories and everyday practices. Covering such manifestations of the monstrous as racism, crimes against humanity, trauma as portrayed in music and art, and the Holocaust, this book explores the impact the uncanny has on our individual and collective psyches.

By focusing on a very specific theme, and one that excites the imagination, Memories and Monsters stokes the flames of an important current movement in relational psychoanalysis. It will appeal to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists, as well as professionals in psychology and graduate school students and tutors in the fields of both psychology and philosophy.

About the Author

Eric R. Severson is a philosopher specializing in the work of Emmanuel Levinas. He is author of the books Levinas's Philosophy of Time (Duquesne University Press, 2013) and Scandalous Obligation (Beacon Hill Press, 2011), and editor of several volumes on ethics, philosophy of religion and psychology. He currently teaches philosophy at Seattle University.

David M. Goodman is a licensed clinical psychologist, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Advising at the Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston College, Director of the Psychology and the Other Institute, and a teaching associate at Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Hospital.

Reviews

"This is a top-quality volume. Severson, Goodman and a stellar collection of contributors do a great job of weaving a diverse range of approaches to the topic together into a book that sheds really fresh insight on a subject first raised by Freud, and revisited by many within and outside psychoanalysis ever since."-Donna M. Orange

Book Information
ISBN 9781138065451
Author Eric R. Severson
Format Paperback
Page Count 296
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 580g