Psychoanaliterature: Psychoanalysis, Literature, and All That Lie in Between

In our eighth episode, the philosopher Amy Allen walks us through the dangerous and thrilling intersection between contemporary psychoanalysis and social thought. She leads us to the often forgotten bond between the Frankfurt School and the psychoanalytic tradition, the value of Melanie Klein's theory of ambivalence to thinking about our social being in the world, all the way to the urgent need to conduct today what she calls "a politics in a depressive mode." Allen boldly faces the perils of translating psychoanalytic concepts into the social realm, and thinks with us about social life in the state of isolation the pandemic has brought upon us. Tune in for another fascinating conversation! cover art by Mike Chai music: https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

In this episode, we excitingly continue our conversation with the renowned Judith Butler. She takes us through her objection to the so-called opposition between surface reading and the hermeneutics of suspicion, describes what she calls “the relational move,” and animates for us her pedagogical approach for teaching psychoanalysis in the academic classroom. It was such a joy for us; hopefully, it would be for you too. This episode was produced independently of institutional support cover art by Vlado Paunovic music: https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

In this episode we host the renowned philosopher, Judith Butler. She has been invested in psychoanalytic thought from early on in her career, but this dialogue received little attention. In this episode, Butler openly talks about her initial encounter with psychoanalysis as a queer teenager tearing at her own skin, and reveals the source of her ongoing, complex relations with Melanie Klein's writings, to which she lately returned with great force. This conversation spills over to the next episode (to be released soon), where Butler shares her thoughts about surface reading, affect theory, and what she calls "the relational move." Join us! This episode was produced independently of institutional support cover art by Kristina Nor music: https://www.fesliyanstudios.com

What does it mean to write literature as an analyst? And how would an analyst lead a literature class? Emma Lieber, who occupies the position of the literary scholar and the analyst simultaneously, shares her experience in writing the autotheoretical The Writing Cure, explains why the proper home of psychoanalysis is in the humanities, and wonders whether it was her students’ dream diaries that helped her bring to life virtual learning. Above all, she insists, psychoanalysis demonstrates that the “literary genius is at work in you.”

In our fourth episode, the one and only Jane Gallop takes us painfully near to the beating heart of vulnerability, as she tells us about her (and her writings’) consistent marking as narcissistic, about her ongoing yet conflicting loyalty to psychoanalysis, which she wears “like old clothes”, about her bold decision to “never write a book again” (hopefully she’ll renege on that promise), and her current commitment to do nothing less than maximize her pleasure.