Myth and Madness: The Psychodynamics of AntisemitismThe persistence of anti-Semitism and its current resurgence after a brief post-Holocaust suppression, challenge those who study human behavior to locate the causal bases of anti-Semitism and find approaches to combat it. This is an astonishing report of a nine-year study of the psychodynamics of anti-Semitism. Undertaken by Dr. Mortimer Ostow on behalf of the Psychoanalytic Research and Development Fund, it puts flesh and bones on the discussion of antisemitism in Sigmund Freud's 1939 classic theoretical study "Moses and Monotheism. "Its close adherence to case material, and application of psychoanalytic theory to historical data and cultural products, yields new insights into bigotry and equity alike. By examining prejudiced patients and their myths, Dr. Ostow shows the common threads of anti-Semitism in a variety of national and cultural settings, even under supposed optimal conditions when antisemitism is stringently controlled. The work uses the psychiatric approach, and can be read as a study of how this area of behavioral science reveals the interplay of the individual and the group, cultural background and material opportunities. The book is divided into five major segments: Psychoanalytic interpretation of anti-Semitism in the past; clinical data on anti-Semitic sentiments in a variety of personal and national settings; mythological dimensions of anti-Semitism and apocalyptic doctrines; specific anti-Semitic myths including pre-Christian early and medieval Christian, "racial" and post-modern Muslim anti-Semitism. The final segment focuses on the pogrom mentality, including the Nazi phenomenon, antisemitic fundamentalism, and black anti-Semitism. "Myth and Madness "is informed by an amazing breadth of learning: from biblical exegesis to modern sociology, from close attention to mundane patients to evaluating mythic claims of the loftiest, and at times most dangerous sort. This is a landmark effort--one that will be the touchstone for theoretical and clinical works to come. |
From inside the book
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... attempts to combine the material with the psychologic . Studies of antisemitism are being published today at a rapid pace , each author presenting his individual point of view . Antisemites often justify their prejudice by offering ...
... ogy , specifically the charge of deicide and the symbolism of the mass . Others attempted an approach via group psychology . Allusions to antisemitism appear in many autobiographical sections of Sigmund 4 Myth and Madness.
... attempted to document the thesis that the Jews are re- sponsible for the disruption of the medieval economic system and for laying the foundations of capitalism . 1 When my friend came to this con- clusion , he was not aware of the ...
... attempts to undo irrational bias , students emphasized realistic conflicts of interests . Duckitt continues his analysis by observing that in the eighties one began to appreciate that prejudice was inherent in the very structure of all ...
The Psychodynamics of Antisemitism Mortimer Ostow. them attempts an integrated approach to the problem and none of them attempts to relate the psychologic factors to the actual history of antisemitism . One misses also a psychologic ...
Contents
3 | |
Study of Clinical Data | 43 |
Mythology | 63 |
Antisemitic Myths | 95 |
The Pogrom Mentality | 151 |
Conclusions | 175 |
181 | |
187 | |