Memoir and Psychoanalysis edited by M. Sagman Kayatekin

Humanities/arts have always been in a neighboring relationship with the unique human enterprise of Psychoanalysis. Yet, compared to ever longed-for relationship of Psychoanalysis with “science,” they have always taken a place of secondary importance. Taking the risk of controversy, I will propose two statements. First, in psychoanalytic vernacular “science” has lost its defining character and useful preciseness as a concept. And second, humanities/arts may also be considered as a major source of enrichment for our psychoanalytic theories and techniques. With these thoughts in the background, in this book, we will take a closer look at the potentially creative cross fertilization between psychoanalysis and humanities, through the lens of memoir.

In the first section, Molofsky offers us a memoir with her colorful and deeply personal style, and her text serves as a nidus for others to critique and expand on. Depending on their
fields of sub-expertise, the contributors to this invitation respond from many different angles. From music to poetry to politics to language and identity. We hear personal stories, subjective evocations and philosophical, political discourses develop from this text. I personally found them illuminating and thought provoking. I have a section on conversations I had with Molofsky with an intention to provide a sense of her as a person with her unique history and also focus on her approach to writing-both as a context to her text.

In the second section we have an unusual memoir. Donnelley, who has worked with psychoanalytic clinicians as a “patient,” courageously published a book about his experiences and thoughts on psychoanalytic treatment. The clinician who provided a review and critique of his book is well informed about the philosophy of treatment Donnelley extensively
talks about.