The Ancient Unconscious: Psychoanalysis and the Ancient Text

The Ancient Unconscious challenges the ambivalent theoretical disposition toward the psychoanalytic concept and reclaims the value of the unconscious as a methodological tool for the study of ancient texts. It considers the debate over whether the ancients had an unconscious and investigates the meaning of textuality through contact between historical moments that have no priority under the law of chronology.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 30 June 2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press

In the realm of classical studies, the psychoanalytic construction of the unconscious is seldom acknowledged as a valuable methodological concept. Often perceived as a contemporary conceptual creation rather than the uncovering of a psychic reality, the notion of the unconscious is frequently derided as an anachronistic lens, one that unavoidably imposes modern thought patterns on ancient experiences. The Ancient Unconscious endeavors to confront this ambivalent theoretical stance towards the psychoanalytic concept and restore the significance of the unconscious as a methodological tool for the study of ancient texts. By reshaping our understanding of what the unconscious encompasses, how it functions, and its relationship to textual hermeneutics, The Ancient Unconscious aims to reclaim the value of the unconscious as a methodological resource. It explores the debate surrounding whether the ancients possessed an unconscious as an opportunity to reevaluate the relationship between antiquity and modernity. Through an insightful examination of the intricate and often conflicting interplay between classical studies and psychoanalytic theory, the volume seeks to elucidate why the concept of the unconscious is indivisible from, and indispensable for, the study of ancient texts and, more broadly, the methodology of classical philology.

In the field of classical studies, the psychoanalytic construction of the unconscious is seldom acknowledged as a valuable methodological concept. Often perceived as a contemporary conceptual creation rather than the uncovering of a psychic reality, the notion of the unconscious is frequently derided as an anachronistic lens, one that unavoidably imposes modern thought patterns on ancient experiences. The Ancient Unconscious endeavors to confront this ambivalent theoretical stance towards the psychoanalytic concept and restore the significance of the unconscious as a methodological tool for the study of ancient texts. By reshaping our understanding of what the unconscious encompasses, how it functions, and its relationship to textual hermeneutics, The Ancient Unconscious aims to reclaim the value of the unconscious as a methodological resource. It explores the debate surrounding whether the ancients possessed an unconscious as an opportunity to reevaluate the relationship between antiquity and modernity. Through an insightful examination of the intricate and often conflicting interplay between classical studies and psychoanalytic theory, the volume seeks to elucidate why the concept of the unconscious is indivisible from, and indispensable for, the study of ancient texts and, more broadly, the methodology of classical philology.

Weight: 314g
Dimension: 215 x 137 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780198866879