Overview

Humour, a topic that engaged Sigmund Freud throughout his career, is richly intertwined with character, with creativity and with the theory and practice of psychoanalytic therapy. Yet, until very recently, analysts ignored Freud's lead and relegated humour to the periphery of their concerns. ""Humour and Psyche"" not only remedies previous neglect of the role of humour in the psychoanalytic situation but opens to a broad and balanced consideration of the role of humour in psychological life. Section 1 provides historical and theoretical perspectives on the concept of humour. In Section 2 contributors turn to the relationship of humour to various aspects of the therapeutic process. Section 3 concludes the volume with three essays on the relationship of humour to character and creativity. They focus on the role of humour in the 25-year correspondence of Freud and Sndor Ferenczi (Duport), on the interweaving of D.W. Winnicott's comic spirit and theoretical innovations (Rodman), and on the relationship between humour and creativity in the music of the American composer Charles Ives (Feder). Taken together, the contributors to this book re-establish the importance of humour as a topic of psychotherapeutic relevance more than 70 years after Freud's final essay on the topic. And this relevance, they clearly show, is two-sided: whereas psychoanalytic approaches help us understand humour as a complex developmental achievement, humour per se infuses therapy and other human endeavours with vitality, playfulness and creativity. Delightfully readable from beginning to end, this text edifies as it entertains. Editor James Barron has succeeded in compiling a collection that offers serious insights into our common propensity to be less than serious in the most human of ways.

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9780881632576

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Reviews

<p> In this enticing volume, editor James Barron turns our attention to humor in human psychology, that 'transformation and reorganization of experience . . . [so] valuable to the individual and society.' With a selection of leading thinkers from across the broad range of contemporary analysis, each of whom thinks seriously and deeply even when writing lightly, Barron has succeeded with a work that opens to new understanding about the role of humor in clinical work, in creativity, and in life in general. To read this profoundly thoughtful yet pleasingly delightful book is to participate in a lively conversation, one both provocative and edifying. We are in Barron's and the contributors' debt. <p>- Warren S. Poland, M.D.<p> Humor in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy is a risky and complex business. It may breathe life into the process, but it may also be misconstrued as contempt. In this superb collection of essays, a group of seasoned analysts provide much wisdom about the uses and misu

In this enticing volume, editor James Barron turns our attention to humor in human psychology, that 'transformation and reorganization of experience . . . [so] valuable to the individual and society.' With a selection of leading thinkers from across the broad range of contemporary analysis, each of whom thinks seriously and deeply even when writing lightly, Barron has succeeded with a work that opens to new understanding about the role of humor in clinical work, in creativity, and in life in general. To read this profoundly thoughtful yet pleasingly delightful book is to participate in a lively conversation, one both provocative and edifying. We are in Barron's and the contributors' debt. - Warren S. Poland, M.D. Humor in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy is a risky and complex business. It may breathe life into the process, but it may also be misconstrued as contempt. In this superb collection of essays, a group of seasoned analysts provide much wisdom about the uses and misuses of humor that will guide readers toward a thoughtful and judicious consideration of the role that humor should play in their own practices. I highly recommend this volume to beginning and experienced clinicians alike. - Glen O. Gabbard, M.D., The Menninger Clinic It has been a long time since I have read a book that has been a source of so much pure pleasure as Humor and Psyche. Jim Barron has done us a service with this project. He has collected a series of papers on a topic that has long been a stepchild of psychoanalytic thought but deserves a central place. Without exception, the contributors bring to bear the wit and intelligence the subject deserves. Bergmann, Sanville, and Feder were my favorites. Read the book and discover yours. - Arnold Richards, M.D., JAPA

Author Information

A graduate and faculty member of the Psychoanalytic Institute of New England, East, James W. Barron, Ph.D., has broad interests in psychoanalytic education. Past president of the Division of Psychoanalysis of the APA, the Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis, and the International Federation for Psychoanalytic Education, Dr. Barron is editor of the Psychologist Psychoanalyst and coeditor of the volume Interface of Psychoanalysis and Psychology (1992). He maintains a private practice and is an Instructor in Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School.

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