Description
Book SynopsisIn Imagination from Fantasy to Delusion, Lois Oppenheim illustrates the enhancement of self that creativity affords, the relationship of imagination to the self as agent. The premise of this book is twofold: First, that the imaginary is real. Where it differs from what we commonly take to be reality is in structure and in form. The imaginary of art, for example, is not illusionary for it is phenomenologically describable and even depictable, as demonstrated by the self-reflexive efforts of modernist painters and writers. No less real than the imaginary of art, and thus fantasy, is the imaginary of delusion, ascertainable in the very function it serves. Though fundamentally different, fantasy and delusion do share a significant feature: a preoccupation with agency. Second is that change, the enhancement of self through an increase in agency, is facilitated by the biology of reward: The pleasure of increased self-cohesionthe efficacy acquired through knowledge of, and the att
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"This fascinating, illuminating book provides a psychoanalytic cornucopia of observations and theories relevant to imagination. The consideration of diverse phenomena (e.g., aesthetics, fantasy, and trauma) and new concepts of memory stimulate and expand contemporary thought and inquiry. Dr. Oppenheim notes that imagination is part of the information processing function of the human mind. Her book exemplifies the pleasurable aspect of imagination which increases self-agency and self-cohesion. The inclusion of interviews of artists adds an intimate, vivid discourse at the intersection of personality and creativity. The reader will appreciate the distinguished author and scholar's exposition of the psychobiology of the brain's reward system, while being rewarded by her creative endeavors." - Harold P. Blum, M.D., Training and Supervising Analyst, Institute for Psychoanalytic Education
"Lois Oppenheim has written an important and inspired book that uses her broad interdisciplinary knowledge to render a linking of art, philosophy, and neuropsychoanalysis. In her previous work she has written deeply insightful studies of Paul Klee, Samuel Beckett, and Martha Graham. In her work she is advancing a theory of creativity that is not limited to applied psychoanalysis, or reductionist neuroscience. It is an unusual multi-aspectual view of imagination, fantasy and its intergenerational transfer, creativity, and artistic process. The reader will be both challenged and delighted as this book brings forth its enriched and novel point of view. The author’s case studies of the artist children of artists are fascinating, insightful and engaging. Remarkable is the elegance and clarity of her writing; she renders complex ideas lucid, understandable, and above all interesting." - David D. Olds, M.D., Training and Supervising Analyst , Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research; Co-Editor, Neuropsychoanalysis
Table of ContentsIntroduction. Part I: "Imagination Dead Imagine." Whence the Image? The Phenomenology of Fantasy. "Insighting" in Psychoanalysis and Art. Part II: Monkey See, Monkey Do. The Transgenerational Transmission of Fantasy. The Anxiety of Influence Revisited: Artists of Artist Parents. Part III: The "Blindness of the Seeing Eye." Creativity: Friend and Foe. Neurobiologic and Psychodynamic Concordances: "Transference" and "Countertransference" in Art. Conclusion.
