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What kind of theoretical engagement can postcolonial theory have with psychoanalysis? Is psychoanalysis still a useful tool for understanding the cultural and psychological dimensions of colonial societies? What would it mean to truly place psychoanalysis in the service of postcolonial critique? Postcolonial Theory and Psychoanalysis answers these questions through a critical examination of the work of critics such as Fanon, Nandy, Bhabha, Deleuze and Guattari. It includes a consideration of key works by each critic, explores their broader reasons for using psychoanalysis in terms of their own theoretical projects as well as in relation to each other, and discusses the problems that follow. Greedharry's book offers students and researchers alike a clear account of why psychoanalysis has been an important method for postcolonial scholarship as well as suggestions about how we might move forward from psychoanalytic readings of the colony.
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Postcolonial Theory and Psychoanalysis From Uneasy Engagements to Effective Critique
Mrinalini Greedharry
Postcolonial Theory and Psychoanalysis
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Postcolonial Theory and Psychoanalysis From Uneasy Engagements to Effective Critique Mrinalini Greedharry
© Mrinalini Greedharry 2008 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13: 978-0-230-52163-6 ISBN-10: 0-230-52163-0
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This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne
This book is dedicated to the memory of my father, Drone Randheersingh Greedharry (1944–93), who encouraged my earliest attempts at critique, and to my mother, Prema Greedharry, who has always provided me with a loving example of the ethics that must underwrite all critique.
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Contents Acknowledgements
viii
Introduction Of Two Minds: The Uneasy Relationship between Postcolonial Theory and Psychoanalysis
1
1 The Fanonian Psychoanalytic
15
2 ‘None of them is true but all of them are realities’: Ashis Nandy’s Psychology of Resistance
44
3 Homi Bhabha and the Psychoanalytic Truth
73
4 Anti