“A sprawling analysis of religion in major psychological and
philosophical literature, fiction and in private life . .
. compelling and remarkable.”—Publishers Weekly “Unlike Freud,
I do not claim that religion is just an illusion and a source of
neurosis. The time has come to recognize, without being afraid of
‘frightening’ either the faithful or the agnostics, that the
history of Christianity prepared the world for humanism.” So writes
Julia Kristeva in this provocative work, which skillfully upends our
entrenched ideas about religion, belief, and the thought and work of a
renowned psychoanalyst and critic. With dialogue and essay, Kristeva
analyzes our “incredible need to believe”—the inexorable push
toward faith that, for Kristeva, lies at the heart of the psyche and
the history of society. Examining the lives, theories, and convictions
of Saint Teresa of Avila, Sigmund Freud, Donald Winnicott, Hannah
Arendt, and other individuals, she investigates the intersection
between the desire for God and the shadowy zone in which belief
resides. Kristeva suggests that human beings are formed by their
need to believe, beginning with our first attempts at speech and
following through to our adolescent search for identity and meaning.
Kristeva then applies her insight to contemporary religious clashes
and the plight of immigrant populations. Even if we no longer have
faith in God, Kristeva argues, we must believe in human destiny and
creative possibility. Reclaiming Christianity’s openness to
self-questioning and the search for knowledge, Kristeva urges a “new
kind of politics,” one that restores the integrity of the human
community. “A helpful commentary and introduction to Kristeva’s
major work over the last two decades.”—Choice
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780231519953
Publisert
2017
Utgiver
Vendor
Columbia University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter