The Haunted Self
Subtitle: Surrealism, Psychoanalysis, Subjectivity
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: February 1, 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780300088007
Subjects: Psychoanalysis & psychoanalytical theory; Surrealism & Dada; Theory of art; Psychology Of Art; Surrealism; Art; Art & Art Instruction; Europe; Criticism; History - Surrealism & Dadaism; Movements - Psychoanalysis; Art / General; European; Psychoanalysis and art
Description: "The question, 'Who am I?' resounded throughout the surrealist movement. The exploration of dreams and the unconscious prompted surrealists to reject the notion of a unified, indivisible self by revealing the subject to be haunted by otherness and instability. In this book David Lomas explores the surrealist concepts of the self and subjectivity from a psychoanalytic viewpoint. Employing a series of case studies devoted to individual artists, Lomas arrives at a radically new account of surrealist art and its cultural and intellectual roots." "Weaving together psychoanalytic and historical material, the author analyses works by Ernst, Dali, Masson, Miro and Picasso with regard to such themes as automatism, hysteria, the uncanny and the abject. Lomas focuses closely on individual artworks, examines the specific circumstances in which they were produced and offers new insights into the artists and their projects as well as the theories of Bataille, Breton and others. Lomas demonstrates the powerful connection between the history of psychoanalysis and the history of surrealism, and along the way shows the unique value of psychoanalytic theory as a tool for the art historian."--Jacket.