Self psychology, Psychohistory, Psychoanalysis and literature, Psychoanalysis and art 

Heinz Kohut, one of the most influential psychoanalysts of the twentieth century, developed the concepts and theories of self psychology. This posthumous book presents his writings and teachings, about the role of the individual, as well as of the "group self," in history, art, religion, and politics. Through the application of self psychology to literature and history, Kohut illuminates the role of the "nuclear self" in the hero and the tragic man, exemplified by Shakespeare's Hamlet, and probes the meaning of historical events, such as the rise of Hitler in Germany. Included are previously unpublished essays on courage, leadership, and the self in society, earlier published papers presenting the theoretical basis of Kohut's ideas, and transcripts of conversations between Kohut and Strozier about cultures as interpreted by depth psychology. Psychoanalysts, as well as historians and others interested in the history of ideas, will welcome the publication of Kohut's last work. --This text refers to the Paperback edition. Editorial Reviews About the Author Heinz Kohut (1913-81) was born on May 3, 1913 in Vienna, Austria - a country whose culture, literature and music permeated his very being. He finished his medical studies in 1938, after Austria was annexed to Nazi Germany, giving him little time to escape the horrors that awaited the Jews in that country. He then spent a year in England, from where he emigrated to the United State and settled in Chicago in 1939. Trained in neurology and psychiatry, he attained the rank of Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at the University of Chicago. He became a psychoanalyst at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis, where he was a highly esteemed member of the faculty. As teacher, supervisor, mentor, thinker his two-year course on Freud's work became legendary. Kohut became President of the American Psychoanalytic Association for 1964-65. During the last ten years of his life, from 1971 to 1981, even while he was deathly ill throughout, he created his post-Freudian "self psychology" - a new theory and treatment approach to psychoanalysis - that was appreciated world-wide. Kohut is the author of many books, including 'How Does Analysis Cure?' and 'The Restoration of the Self'. The author and editor of numerous books, including "Apocalypse: On the Psychology of Fundamentalism in America", Charles B. Strozier is Professor of History at John Jay College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.