Disseminations: Psychoanalysis in Context – serie

`In this groundbreaking book, Alan Roland's stated purpose it to integrate psychoanalysis with art and the artist. For those treating artists, or those who want to bring greater understanding of the creative process into their consciousness, this book is indispensable' - Psychologist-Psychoanalyst Newsletter

Alan Roland is both a highly respected psychoanalyst and an exhibiting artist, giving him a fresh perspective on psychoanalytic studies of art and the artist. Here he argues for an interdisciplinary integration of psychoanalysis with art and artistic criticism, and against the reductionism of applied psychoanalysis.

Exploring the artistic process and the concept of the artistic self in terms of self-objects and transformational objects, Roland challenges the basic assumption of applied psychoanalysis - that the work of art is a dream or daydream expressed within a formal aesthetic framework. Written in an accessible, non-technical style, this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in psychoanalytic criticism or psychoanalytical theories of dreams and creativity.

`In this groundbreaking book, Alan Roland's stated purpose it to integrate psychoanalysis with art and the artist. For those treating artists, or those who want to bring greater understanding of the creative process into their consciousness, this book is indispensable' - Psychologist-Psychoanalyst Newsletter

Alan Roland is both a highly respected psychoanalyst and an exhibiting artist, giving him a fresh perspective on psychoanalytic studies of art and the artist. Here he argues for an interdisciplinary integration of psychoanalysis with art and artistic criticism, and against the reductionism of applied psychoanalysis.

Exploring the artistic process and the concept of the artistic self in terms of self-objects and transformational objects, Roland challenges the basic assumption of applied psychoanalysis - that the work of art is a dream or daydream expressed within a formal aesthetic framework. Written in an accessible, non-technical style, this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in psychoanalytic criticism or psychoanalytical theories of dreams and creativity.

`One of the most interesting theorists in contemporary psychoanalysis, Bollas emphasizes both the creativity of subjectivity itself and the key place of experience in the formation of psychical constructions and fantasy' - Anthony Elliott, Centre for Critical Theory, University of the West of England

This eclectic collection of essays reflects the far-reaching, multi-dimensional influence of Christopher Bollas. Bollas galvanises our understanding of what happens when people encounter the objects - the endlessly variegated content - of external reality. Each of us has our own unique idiom through which we endow objects - a painting, a football, a stranger - with special meaning. Bollas has added depth to our understanding of these relationships with vitality rarely found in psychoanalytic writing. The contributors to this volume offer definitions and illustrations that make Bollas' thought accessible for those approaching his work for the first time and illuminating for those more familiar with his canon. The Vitality of Objects reveals the possibilities for self-expression and growth that figure in the process of object relations and shows how and why thinkers and artists from so many different perspectives are attracted to Bollas' thought.

`One of the most interesting theorists in contemporary psychoanalysis, Bollas emphasizes both the creativity of subjectivity itself and the key place of experience in the formation of psychical constructions and fantasy' - Anthony Elliott, Centre for Critical Theory, University of the West of England

This eclectic collection of essays reflects the far-reaching, multi-dimensional influence of Christopher Bollas. Bollas galvanises our understanding of what happens when people encounter the objects - the endlessly variegated content - of external reality. Each of us has our own unique idiom through which we endow objects - a painting, a football, a stranger - with special meaning. Bollas has added depth to our understanding of these relationships with vitality rarely found in psychoanalytic writing. The contributors to this volume offer definitions and illustrations that make Bollas' thought accessible for those approaching his work for the first time and illuminating for those more familiar with his canon. The Vitality of Objects reveals the possibilities for self-expression and growth that figure in the process of object relations and shows how and why thinkers and artists from so many different perspectives are attracted to Bollas' thought.

Transsexualism is a stimulating, proactive and important book. Colette Chiland does not back away from difficult issues. She forces all of us to look at our assumptions about t5ranssexualism and to re-examine what gender and sex really mean' - Christine Ware, author of Where Id Was: Challenging Normalization in Psychoanalysis

'In a nutshell, the book offers a much-needed alternative view of transsexuality from a psychiatric and European point of view… Chiland's interesting and well presented book is a valued reminder of how different the same topic can appear in an alternative perspective' - Transgender Tapestry

Colette Chiland exhibits a masterful and encyclopedic knowledge of transsexualism, drawing together the insights of depth psychology, psychoanalysis, history, anthropology and sociology for rethinking transsexualism in terms of identity, subjectivity and the wider socio-historical world. This book is written with considerable precision on complex, technical issues, whilst at the same time keeping the broader question of the relationship between transsexualism and society firmly in mind.

`One of the most interesting theorists in contemporary psychoanalysis, Bollas emphasizes both the creativity of subjectivity itself and the key place of experience in the formation of psychical constructions and fantasy' - Anthony Elliott, Centre for Critical Theory, University of the West of England

This eclectic collection of essays reflects the far-reaching, multi-dimensional influence of Christopher Bollas. Bollas galvanises our understanding of what happens when people encounter the objects - the endlessly variegated content - of external reality. Each of us has our own unique idiom through which we endow objects - a painting, a football, a stranger - with special meaning. Bollas has added depth to our understanding of these relationships with vitality rarely found in psychoanalytic writing. The contributors to this volume offer definitions and illustrations that make Bollas' thought accessible for those approaching his work for the first time and illuminating for those more familiar with his canon. The Vitality of Objects reveals the possibilities for self-expression and growth that figure in the process of object relations and shows how and why thinkers and artists from so many different perspectives are attracted to Bollas' thought.