The new black
Subtitle: mourning, melancholia and depression
By: Darian Leader
Publisher: Graywolf Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Minneapolis, Minn
Language: eng
Number of pages: 223
ISBN-13: 9781555975425
Description: Fifty years ago, the terms mourning and melancholia were part of the psychological lexicon. Today, in a world of rapid diagnoses, quick cures, and big pharmaceutical dollars, the catch-all concept of depression has evolved to take their place. Here, Darian Leader argues that this shift is more than semantic; rather, it speaks to our culture's complicated relationship with loss, suffering, and grief. Part memoir, part cultural analysis, Leader draws on examples from literature, art, cinema, and history, as well as case studies from his work as a psychologist, to explore the unconscious ways our culture responds to the experience of loss, providing an innovative tour of mourning and melancholia and our culture's struggle to understand them.--From publisher description.
Notes: First published by Hamish Hamilton in 2008.

Includes bibliographical references.