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
Results 1-5 of 27
... specific antisemitic myths , including pre - Christian , early and medieval Christian , " racial " and post- modern Muslim antisemitism . The final segment focuses on the pogrom men- tality . Including the Nazi phenomenon , antisemitic ...
... specific focus of research has changed systematically from decade to decade in this century . He points out that in the nineteenth century , the targets of prejudice , for example , blacks and colonials , were considered racially ...
... been very few . These various studies associate antisemitism with specific dynamics , or with personality profiles or intergroup relations . None of them attempts an integrated approach to the problem and none 10 Myth and Madness.
... relevant issues in greater detail and to construct a more specific and more coherent chain of causation . Seventeen analysts participated2 , all experienced and The Project , its Background , and its Presuppositions 11.
... specific , in fact , unique manifestation . We did give some thought to the etiologic background of the Holocaust , what triggered the events , the method by which virtually the entire population of Germany and the lands that it ...
Contents
3 | |
Study of Clinical Data | 43 |
Mythology | 63 |
Antisemitic Myths | 95 |
The Pogrom Mentality | 151 |
Conclusions | 175 |
Bibliography | 181 |
Index | 187 |