Overview

This text joins psychoanalytic theories of melancholia and mourning (Freud, Kristeva) with cultural studies and its attention to power relations in cultural practice. It is interested in the borderland between the psychoanalytic and the cultural, where desire is imbricated with power and individual psyches with cultural formations. Drawing from a wide spectrum of literary and autobiographical texts from the past and present, such as Jane Austen's Emma and Tina Turner's I, Tina , the author moves from a psychoanalytic explanation of the formation of women melancholics to the cultural co-construction of battered women. A fascinating, provocative, and highly original study in melancholia and domestic abuse. This book should be of interest to anyone concerned with social justice for battered women or the politics of representation of violence against women.

Full Product Details

9780847698288

Table of Contents

Reviews

Frances Restuccia's Melancholics in Love: Representing Women's Depression and Domestic Abuse addresses a timely topic of domestic violence and its representations in women's fiction, autobiography, and contemporary culture. By staging a critical negotiation between psychoanalytical theory, in particular Julia Kristeva's discussion of melancholia, and the cultural analysis of modern power inspired by Foucault's work, Restuccia develops her own original reading of the cultural and psychic dynamics of female melancholia, masochism, destructive jouissance, mother/daughter relations, domestic violence and resistance. Written with clarity, lucidity, and precision, Melancholics in Love presents an original contribution to literary studies, feminist theory, and the political implications of the psychoanalytic theories of female subjectivity. -- Ewa Ziarek, University of Notre Dame A sophisticated, meticulous work. Contemporary Literature Frances Restuccia's Melancholics in Love is a lucid and persuasive account of the psychic and social formation of abused women. Restuccia develops an original and engaging psychosocial theory of why melancholic women are more likely to fall in love with abusive men. Restuccia's compelling prose, illuminating examples, and constant view toward real-life domestic abuse make this brilliant theoretical edifice come alive with meaning and compassion. Melancholics in Love weds the best of theory with the best of literary criticism, cultural studies, and applied psychoanalysis. This thought-provoking and powerful book opens a new door for theoretical analysis of domestic abuse. -- Kelly Oliver, SUNY Stony Brook

Frances Restuccia's Melancholics in Love: Representing Women's Depression and Domestic Abuse addresses a timely topic of domestic violence and its representations in women's fiction, autobiography, and contemporary culture. By staging a critical negotiation between psychoanalytical theory, in particular Julia Kristeva's discussion of melancholia, and the cultural analysis of modern power inspired by Foucault's work, Restuccia develops her own original reading of the cultural and psychic dynamics of female melancholia, masochism, destructive jouissance, mother/daughter relations, domestic violence and resistance. Written with clarity, lucidity, and precision, Melancholics in Love presents an original contribution to literary studies, feminist theory, and the political implications of the psychoanalytic theories of female subjectivity.--Ewa Ziarek

Author Information

Frances L. Restuccia is associate professor of contemporary literary and cultural theory, English, and women's studies at Boston College.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available