Dusan I. Bjelic

Somewhat interesting stuff about the imperialist/orientialist origins of psychoanalysis and their applications to the Balkans. Contains stuff specifically criticising Zizek and Kristeva as well as elucidating the role of psychiatry in the ethnic conflicts in Yugoslavia. The stuff about Kristeva and Zizek is probably most interesting for revealing some of the thoroughly nasty side of their philosophies. The stuff about Yugoslavia is interesting too and really exposes how supposedly "apolitical" ideas can be very politically dangerous. I appreciated the (limited) critique of psychoanalysis, which has implications for today given how popular Zizek is, for showing the use of psychoanalysis for an imperialist project. Although the ending was a bit wishy-washy, I did appreciate the idea of a more positive view of difference and unity.

Although there's some critique of psychoanalysis, it never really went that far. I don't know what his background is but a lot of it uses the same language of psychoanalysis he elsewhere criticises. There's a lot of "academic" terms and I found some of it confusing - I'm not too familiar with all the stuff he talks about and I'm sure someone who knows psychoanalysis more would understand. In general, although he does an admirable job connecting the theory to the material, I found the more theoretical bits pretty confusing and not always clear. He doesn't really have a conclusion or obvious thesis he's putting forward which is confusing. There's quite a lot about Freud's life in the first few chapters which feels like psychoanalysis of him and I don't really feel is convincing or valuable.

Ultimately, an interesting but non-essential book that's probably most valuable for the stuff on Zizek and Kristeva but will appeal more if you're looking for criticism of psychoanalysis and have some familiarity with it.… (mer)