This includes the evolution of the Hebrew religion as a projective response to the inner conflicts produced by the human family; the sociopsychological development of the Israelite kingdoms in Canaan; the fascinating duality of Jewish life in the "Diaspora"; and the emotional ties of the Jews to their idealized motherland from the Babylonian exile to modern political Zionism.

The collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918 left all Austrians in a state of political, social, and economic turmoil, but Jews in particular found their lives shaken to the core. Although Jews' former comfort zone suddenly disappeared, the dissolution of the Dual Monarchy also created plenty of room for innovation and change in the realm of culture. Jews eagerly took up the challenge to fill this void, and they became heavily invested in culture as a way to shape their new, but also vexed, self-understandings. By isolating the years between the World Wars and examining formative events in both Vienna and the provinces, Becoming Austrians: Jews and Culture between the World Wars demonstrates that an intensified marking of people, places, and events as "Jewish" accompanied the crises occurring in the wake of Austria-Hungary's collapse, with profound effects on Austria's cultural legacy. In some cases, the consequences of this marking resulted in grave injustices. Philipp Halsmann, for example, was wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of his father years before he became a world-famous photographer. And the men who shot and killed writer Hugo Bettauer and philosopher Moritz Schlick received inadequate punishment for their murderous deeds. But engagements with the terms of Jewish difference also characterized the creation of culture, as shown in Hugo Bettauer's satirical novel The City without Jews and its film adaptation, other texts by Veza Canetti, David Vogel, A.M. Fuchs, Vicki Baum, and Mela Hartwig, and performances at the Salzburg Festival and the Yiddish theater in Vienna. By examining the lives, works, and deeds of a broad range of Austrians, Lisa Silverman reveals how the social codings of politics, gender, and nation received a powerful boost when articulated along the lines of Jewish difference.

Thought-provoking explorations of the relationship between psychoanalysis and Judaism, which investigate themes of tradition, forgiveness, hysteria, the body, unconscious communication, religious experience, trauma, anti-Semitism, and victimization. Based on the hugely successful Jewish Thought and Psychoanalysis lecture series, it contains contributions from Eli Zaretsky, Stephen Frosh, Sander L. Gilman, Marsha Aileen Hewitt, Eran Rolnik, Ruth Calderon, and Harvey Schwartz. Freud's relationship with his Judaism - his by virtue of his self- description as a "fanatical Jew" - was framed by two of his convictions. He was centered both by his passionate cultural affiliation and by his atheism. Within these internal guideposts lay a Jewish life layered by tensions, pleasures, and identifications. His creation - psychoanalysis - has labored to honor its Jewish influences. Recent studies of these insights have contributed to the current interest in listening more carefully to the individual meanings of analysands' religious life. This lecture series was designed to introduce to the public both the similarities and the differences between the psychoanalytic and the Jewish world views. The contributors are among the thought leaders of our generation who work at the interface of the intrapsychic and religious states of mind. We learn how each has influenced the other and perhaps how each has been enriched by the other. A tour de force delving into the influence of Freud's Jewish roots on the development of psychoanalysis.

In this book, Yael Pilowsky Bankirer reads into Freud's writings with the unique prism of circumcision as a marker for both the formation of masculine identity, and for matricide, the disappearance of the mother. Pilowsky Bankirer uses Freud’s idea of circumcision within a text as a Leitfossil: a key-fossil through which an unresolved unconscious conflict can be traced. She conducts a close reading of Freud’s texts – including Little Hans, The Wolf Man, Totem and Taboo and Moses and Monotheism – to illuminate and uncover the textual unconscious, deconstruct the explicit narrative and open alternative psychoanalytic possibilities inherent to the encounter with the maternal realm. Throughout the volume, Pilowsky Bankirer informs her analysis by considering the work of Freud in tandem with that of Lacan, Kristeva, Irigaray, Derrida, Benjamin, Butler and more. Psychoanalytic Explorations of the Masculine and the Maternal: Uncovering the Image of Circumcision in Freud’s Works will be of interest to scholars of psychoanalysis and practising analysts alike, particularly those interested in the intersection of gender studies and psychoanalysis.

Dennis B. Klein explores the Jewish consciousness of Freud and his followers and the impact of their Jewish self-conceptions on the early psychoanalytic movement. Using little-known sources such as the diaries and papers of Freud's protégé Otto Rank and records of the Vienna B'nai B'rith that document Freud's active participation in that Jewish fraternal society, Klein argues that the feeling of Jewish ethical responsibility, aimed at renewing ties with Germans and with all humanity, stimulated the work of Freud, Rank, and other analysts and constituted the driving force of the psychoanalytic movement.

Psychoanalysis has always grappled with its Jewish origins, sometimes celebrating them and sometimes trying to escape or deny them. Through exploration of Freud's Jewish identity, the fate of psychoanalysis in Germany under the Nazis, and psychoanalytic theories of anti-Semitism, this book examines the significance of the Jewish connection with psychoanalysis and what that can tell us about political and psychological resistance, anti-Semitism and racism.

Opening with a critical appreciation of Alan Dundes (M. Carroll) and Dundes's own cross-cultural study of the cockfight, Volume 18 includes chapters on psychoanalysis and Hindu sexual fantasies (W. Doniger); the modern folk tale "The Boyfriend's Death" (M. Carroll); a gruesome Eskimo bedtime story (R. Boyer); the homosexual implications of Argentinean soccer (M. Suarez-Orozco); and the symbolism of a Malaysian religious festival (E. Fuller).

Although Napoleon Bonaparte has been a favorite subject of biographers for nearly two centuries, to date no full-scale psychobiography of arguably the most compelling, fascinating, and complex leader in world history has ever been published. With Napoleon Against Himself, internationally recognized scholar Avner Falk fills this void. He not only considers Napoleon's intellect but also what use he made of it, how it affected his emotional life, and whether he used intellectualization as one of his unconscious defensive processes. Additionally, he examines Napoleon's ambivalent relationship with his mother, his identification with the &“Motherland,&” and his fits of narcissistic rage, violence, and aggression. Specifically, Falk focuses on his numerous irrational, self-defeating, and self-destructive actions. In weaving in the psychological interpretations that have previously been proposed for Napoleon's actions with his own new insights, Falk has created a most stimulating and original work that sheds much needed light on Napoleon's troubled inner world.

In this exciting addition to Bloomsbury's Short Histories series, Steven Leonard Jacobs critically yet concisely examines the history of Judaism and the Jewish people, drawing from maps, photographs and archives to illuminate the history of one of the world's oldest religions. Beginning by establishing a definition of Judaism, Jacobs explores the historiography of the Jewish people, in addition to the role of memory in charting history. Including a comprehensive breakdown of the history of Judaism, the author splits discussion into defined eras, taking readers from the beginnings of Judaism, to the split between Judah in the South and Israel in the North, the united Monarchy, and the Age of the Prophets. Exploring the social structures and institutions of ancient Israel, Jacobs incorporates key themes such as civic life, economics, and art – before analysing the interactions of Judaism with Romanism and Hellenism. Moving through the Middle Ages and Pre-Modernity, and acknowledging the role of key figures such as Yosef Karo and Moses Mendelssohn, this book brings the narrative up to the present day, and uncovers the foundations of Judaism in modernity. Jacobs' authoritative yet engaging prose shines through each of the thirteen chapters, which seamlessly intertwine to produce a thorough yet concise examination of the history of Judaism and Jewish peoples.

Is psychoanalysis a "Jewish science"? Ten essays contributed by the editor and distinguished scholars explore the Jewishness of psychoanalysis, its origins in the Jewish situation of late nineteenth century Europe, Freud's Jewishness and the Jewishness of his early colleagues. They also exemplify what the psychoanalytic approach can contribute to the study of Judaism. Clinical studies illuminate the issue of Jewish identity and psychological significance of the bar mitzvah experience. Theoretical essays throw light on Jewish history, Jewish social and communal behavior, Jewish myths and legends, religious ideas and thoughts.What are the major determinants of Jewish identity? What is the role of Jewish education in establishing and maintaining Jewish identity? What does the Midrash tell us about the meaning of anxiety to the traditional Jew, and how does Judaism attempt to deal with anxiety? What strategies have Jews used to survive an anti-Jewish world? Under what circumstances has the compliant posture of Johanen ben Zakkai been celebrated, and under what circumstances the defiance of the martyrs of Massada?