THE NEW YORK PSYCHOANALYTIC SOCIETY & INSTITUTE:
THE FRIENDS OF THE A. A. BRILL LIBRARY
247 East 82nd St., between 2nd & 3rd, NY, NY
Friday, October 30, 2009 at 7:30 P.M.
The Shadows of Nuremberg: Anglo-American Psychoanalysis & the Struggle Against the Third Reich
Daniel Pick, Ph.D. will describe his research in American and British archives for his forthcoming book In Pursuit of the Nazi Mind: Hess, Hitler and Psychoanalysis (In Press, Oxford UP). He will discuss how Freudian ideas were brought to bear in the war, and explore some of the claims that were made about this endeavour. His work illustrates how a variety of studies of fascist psychopathology, centered on the concept of the superego, were mobilized in military intelligence, post-war planning and ‘denazification,’ and ponder their lasting psychoanalytic and cultural effects. Illustrative vignettes from various clinical discussions of Adolf Hitler and his deputy, Rudolf Hess, that took place during the war will be highlighted. A particular focus will be the detailed discussions about the nature of Hess’ mind and motives that ensued following his still mysterious flight to Scotland in 1941.
Daniel Pick is a practicing psychoanalyst in London and a fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society. He is Professor of History at Birkbeck University of London, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, an editor of History Workshop Journal, and an editorial advisor to the journal Psychoanalysis and History. Professor Pick edited (with Lyndal Roper) Dreams and History:The Interpretation of Dreams from Ancient Greece to Modern Psychoanalysis (Routledge, 2004). He is the author of Rome or Death: The Obsessions of General Garibaldi (2005), Svengali’s Web: The Alien Enchanter in Modern Culture (Yale, 2000), War Machine: The Rationalization of Slaughter in the Modern Age (Yale, 1993) and Faces of Degeneration: A European Disorder (CUP, 1989).
RSVP to library@nypsa.org or 212-879-6900. Admission will be based on priority of registration.
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