The Inner World: A Psychoanalytic Study of Childhood and Society in India (Oxford India Perennials)

Feelings, impulses, wishes, and fantasies - the dynamic content of the inner world - occupy the deepest recesses of the psyche. It is through introspection and empathy, essential to psychotherapy, that the outside observer can grasp the meaning of the inner world of an individual.

First published in 1978, The Inner World is an inquiry into the development of Indian identity. It examines the network of social roles, traditional values, and customs with which the threads of Indian psychological development are interwoven and, in doing so, reveals important aspects of Indian society, myths, rituals, fables, and arts. Hailed by critics globally as the best application of psychoanalysis to Indian culture, this Oxford India Perennials edition of The Inner World includes a new Prologue situating the work in the contemporary scenario.



Contents:

Prologue Preface to the First Edition I. Introduction: Aims and Approach; Culture and Personality; Personal Word II. The Hindu World Image: The Theme of Fusion-Moksha; Life Task and Life Cycle-Dharma; Ideas of Time and Destiny III. Mothers and Infants: Psycho-social Matrix of Infancy: Feminine Identity in India; The 'Good Mother'; The 'Bad Mother'; Infancy and Ego: Origins of Identity in a Patriarchal Culture IV. Families and Children: Psycho-social Matrix of Childhood: The Extended Family; The Second Birth; Ontogeny of Homo Hierarchicus V. Tracings: The Inner World of Culture and History: Cult and Myths of Krishna; Shiva and Narcissus; The Revolutionary Yogi: Childhood of Swami Vivekananda VI. Conclusion: Childhood and Social Change Appendix: The Child in Indian Tradition Afterword Notes and References Bibliography Index