The Psychoanalysis of Aesthetic Experience
Self, Relationship and Culture
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:5th Aug '25
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
In The Psychoanalysis of Aesthetic Experience: Self, Relationship and Culture, George Hagman eloquently provides an overview of ideas regarding the aesthetic foundation of human experience and the way in which this aesthetic perspective can shed light on human development, culture, and analytic clinical process.
The book discusses the relationship between the psychology of art and the aesthetics of psychoanalytic treatment. Hagman presents a comprehensive psychoanalytic model of the psychology of aesthetics, creativity, beauty, ugliness, and the sublime, as well as a theory of aesthetics across the dimensions of subjectivity, self, intersubjectivity, and culture. Starting from the point of early childhood development, he argues for the importance of exploring the implications of this important psychological phenomenon for clinical practice, highlighting how aesthetics can shed light on a dimension of the psychotherapeutic process that has thus been neglected.
This book is an illuminating and informative read for all psychoanalysts, and anyone interested in the intersection of psychoanalytic practice, aesthetics, creativity, and culture.
‘With startling originality, George Hagman’s Psychoanalysis of Aesthetic Experience: Self, Relationship and Culture radically expands psychoanalytic aesthetic theory beyond the great early seminal contributions on art and idealization.’
Malcolm Owen Slavin, Ph.D., Co-Founder, Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis; Author of The Story of Original Loss: Grieving Existential Trauma in the Arts and the Art of Psychoanalysis (Routledge)
‘Psychoanalysis of Aesthetic Experience: Self, Relationship and Culture opens clinical insights into intersubjective and transitional realms, showing how sensitivities to aesthetic meanings and the relation of artists to their artwork can transform the ways we practice psychoanalysis.’
Maria D-S. Dobson, Ph.D., Professor of Classics at Colorado College; Private practice in psychoanalytic psychotherapy in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Author of Metamorphoses of Psych in Psychoanalysis and Ancient Greek Thought (Routledge, 2023)
‘Now in its 2nd edition, George Hagman expands on his definition of art, extends further the application to psychoanalytic treatment, and explores new perspectives on literary and historical investigations. Those who love the arts, or work with artists in their practice, will find this book invaluable.’
Carol M. Press, EdD, Emeritus of the Department of Theatre and Dance, University of California, Santa Barbara
ISBN: 9781032836225
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 430g
214 pages