The Writing Cure: Psychoanalysis, Composition, and the Aims of Education

Bracher, Mark

ISBN 10: 0809322218 / ISBN 13: 9780809322213

Published by Southern Illinois University Press, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., 1999

ISBN: 0-8093-2221-8 Very little wear to the book; light rubbing to the jacket extremities. Quite clean. 'Psychoanalysis and writing instruction have much to offer each other . . . [The author] examines the intersection between these two fields and proposes pedagogical uses of psychoanalytic technique for writing instruction.' etc. 230 pages. Seller Inventory # 024781

Synopsis:

Psychoanalysis and writing instruction have much to offer each other, asserts Mark Bracher. In this book, Bracher examines the intersection between these two fields and proposes pedagogical uses of psychoanalytic technique for writing instruction.

Psychoanalysis reveals that the writing process is profoundly affected by factors that current theories have largely neglected—forces such as enjoyment, desire, fantasy, and anxiety, which, moreover, are often unconscious. Articulating an approach based on the work of Jacques Lacan, Bracher shows how a psychoanalytic perspective can offer useful insights into the nature of the writing process, the sources of writing problems, and the dynamics of writing instruction. He further demonstrates that writing instruction constitutes the most favorable venue outside of individual psychoanalytic treatment for pursuing psychoanalytic research and practice. Like psychoanalytic treatment proper, writing instruction can function as a way of reducing psychological conflict and as a means of pursuing psychoanalytic research into the workings of the mind. Empirical studies and personal testimonies have demonstrated the psychological (and even the physical) benefits of writing about personal conflict in an academic setting; such benefits promise to be enhanced and consolidated through the application of psychoanalytic principles to the teaching of writing.

About the Author:

Mark Bracher is a professor of English and the director of the Center for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society at Kent State University. He is the founder and editor of JPCS: Journal for the Psychoanalysis of Culture & Society and the author, most recently, of Lacan, Discourse, and Social Change: A Psychoanalytic Cultural Criticism.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Writing Cure: Psychoanalysis, ...
Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
Publication Date: 1999
Binding: Cloth
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good