Mireille Cifali

View Larger
Image

From India to the Planet Mars: A Case of Multiple Personality With Imaginary Languages

Mireille Cifali; Theodore Flournoy; Sonu Shamdasani

Synopsis:
A classic in the field of psychology, From India to the Planet Mars (1900) depicts the remarkable multiple existence of the medium Hýlýne Smith, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Marie Antoinette, of a Hindu princess from fifteenth-century India, and of a regular visitor to Mars, whose landscapes she painted and whose language she appeared to speak fluently. Through a psychological interpretation of these fantasies, which consisted in the subliminal elaboration of forgotten memories, Thýodore Flournoy vastly extended the scope and understanding of the unconscious, and in particular, of its creative and mythopoetic capacities. In a new introduction to this work, Sonu Shamdasani evokes the rich cultural and intellectual setting in which Flournoy published his findings, and discusses their impact on Freud, Jung, Saussure, and other pioneers of psychology and linguistics.

More About this Book | View All Listings | View Collectible Listings

Other editions: Softcover - 1994, 1994, 1985, 1983, 1982