Eric R. Severson (editor) - Memories and Monsters: Psychology, Trauma, and Narrative

Memories and Monsters explores the nature of the monstrous or uncanny, and theway in which psychological trauma relates to memory and narration. Thisinterdisciplinary book works on the borderland between psychology andphilosophy, drawing from scholars in both fields who have helped mould thebourgeoning field of relational psychoanalysis and phenomenological andexistential psychology. The editors have sought out contributions to this field thatspeak to the pressing question: how are we to attend to and contend with ourmonsters?

The authors in this volume examine the ways in which we might best relate toour monsters, and how the legacies of ancient traumas and anxieties continueto affect our current stories, memories, and everyday practices. Covering suchmanifestations of the monstrous as racism, crimes against humanity, trauma asportrayed in music and art, and the Holocaust, this book explores the impact theuncanny 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 inrelational psychoanalysis. It will appeal to psychoanalysts and psychoanalyticpsychotherapists, as well as professionals in psychology and graduate-schoolstudents and tutors in the fields of both psychology and philosophy.

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

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

Relational Perspectives Book Series

Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris
Series Co-Editors

Steven Kuchuck & Eyal Rozmarin
Associate Editors

The Relational Perspectives Book Series (RPBS) publishes books that grow out ofor contribute to the relational tradition in contemporary psychoanalysis. The termrelational psychoanalysis was first used by Greenberg and Mitchell to bridge thetraditions of interpersonal relations, as developed within interpersonal psychoanalysisand object relations, as developed within contemporary British theory. But, under theseminal work of the late Stephen A. Mitchell, the term relational psychoanalysis grewand began to accrue to itself many other influences and developments. Varioustributariesinterpersonal psychoanalysis, object relations theory, self psychology,empirical infancy research, and elements of contemporary Freudian and Kleinianthoughtflow into this tradition, which understands relational configurations betweenself and others, both real and fantasied, as the primary subject of psychoanalyticinvestigation.

We refer to the relational tradition, rather than to a relational school, to highlightthat we are identifying a trend, a tendency within contemporary psychoanalysis, not amore formally organized or coherent school or system of beliefs. Our use of the termrelational signifies a dimension of theory and practice that has become salient acrossthe wide spectrum of contemporary psychoanalysis. Now under the editorial supervisionof Lewis Aron and Adrienne Harris, with the assistance of Associate Editors StevenKuchuck and Eyal Rozmarin, the Relational Perspectives Book Series originatedin 1990 under the editorial eye of the late Stephen A. Mitchell. Mitchell was themost prolific and influential of the originators of the relational tradition. Committedto dialogue among psychoanalysts, he abhorred the authoritarianism that dictatedadherence to a rigid set of beliefs or technical restrictions. He championed opendiscussion, comparative and integrative approaches, and promoted new voices acrossthe generations.

Included in the Relational Perspectives Book Series are authors and works thatcome from within the relational tradition, extend and develop that tradition, as well asworks that critique relational approaches or compare and contrast it with alternativepoints of view. The series includes our most distinguished senior psychoanalysts,along with younger contributors who bring fresh vision. A full list of titles in this seriesis available at https://www.routledge.com/series/LEARPBS.

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Greenberg, J. & Mitchell, S. (1983). Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Psychology, Trauma, and Narrative

Edited by Eric R. Severson
and David M. Goodman

First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2018 selection and editorial matter, Eric R. Severson and David M.
Goodman; individual chapters, the contributors

The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN: 978-1-138-06544-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-06545-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-15971-3 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman
by Keystroke, Neville Lodge, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton

To George Kunz, a dear friend, mentor, and pioneer in existential and phenomenological psychology.

ERIC R. SEVERSON AND DAVID M. GOODMAN

PAUL CANTZ

PHILIP CUSHMAN

JOEL ROSENBERG

PETER SHABAD

JEROME A. MILLER

ROGER FRIE

JEROME VEITH

DORIS BROTHERS

BRANCA TELLES RIBEIRO AND DIANA SOUZA PINTO

ORIN SEGAL

AMIRA SIMHA-ALPERN

PETER CAPRETTO

STEVEN HUETT AND GEORGE HORTON

MALCOLM OWEN SLAVIN

Doris Brothers is a co-founder of the Training and Research in Intersubjective Self Psychology Foundation and co-editor with Roger Frie of the journal Psychoanalysis, Self and Context. Her latest book is Toward a Psychology of Uncertainty: Trauma-Centered Psychoanalysis (Analytic Press, 2008). She is in private practice in Manhattan.