Book Description
Jouissance as Ananda seeks to resolve the often-problematic Western concept of the ego by proposing a cross-cultural theory of consciousness that draws on Indian philosophy. Author Ashmita Khasnabish uses the Indian concept of ananda to advance Irigaray's theory of jouissance and offers a re-reading of jouissance from an Indian cross-cultural psychoanalytic point of view.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Jouissance as Ananda seeks to resolve the often problematic Western concept of the ego by proposing a cross-cultural theory of consciousness that draws on Indian philosophy. Ashmita Khasnabish begins with a critique of Western psychoanalysis, engaging French feminist philosopher Luce Irigaray's concept of jouissance to highlight shortcomings in the work of Freud and Lacan. Khasnabish then seeks to expand the idea of jouissance by comparing it with the Indian concept of ananda. This highly theoretical analysis of philosophical and psychoanalytic terms is combined with an examination of colonial and postcolonial literature.

SYNOPSIS

Khasnabish (English, U. of Massachusetts, Lowell), who worked on this study during a two-year fellowship at the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women at Brown U., provides an intriguing analysis of the notion of jouissance in Freud, Lacan, and Irigaray that is centered in both feminism and Indian philosophy. Following a discussion of the theory, the concepts are applied to works of literature, including James Joyce's A portrait of the artist as a young man, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's The mistress of spices, Clarice Lispector's The stream of life, and Rabindranath Tagore's The king of the dark chamber. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

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