The Language of Perversion and the Language of Love
Understanding the complexities of love and human relationships
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Jason Aronson Publishers
Published:1st May '99
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This insightful book examines the complexities of love and perversion, exploring how human relationships can be distorted by objectification and emotional disconnection.
In The Language of Perversion and the Language of Love, Dr. Sheldon Bach explores the complex interplay between human relationships and the concept of perversion. He defines perversion not just in terms of sexual deviations but as a broader lack of capacity for whole object love. This lack manifests in various forms, including character disorders and psychotic conditions, which complicate the way individuals relate to themselves and others. Dr. Bach's insights delve into the paradoxes of self and other, male and female, and the struggles that arise from these dualities.
The book takes a historical perspective, examining how throughout time, from ancient conflicts to modern atrocities, the dehumanization of others has been a recurring theme. Dr. Bach emphasizes that treating another person as a mere object represents a profound perversion of object relationships. He argues that this treatment is deeply rooted in the inability to form genuine emotional connections, which can lead to both personal suffering and societal issues.
Furthermore, The Language of Perversion and the Language of Love highlights the challenges faced by individuals with perversions in navigating the complexities of human relationships. Their difficulty in embracing ambiguity often results in rigid thinking and a limited understanding of differing viewpoints. By addressing these themes, Dr. Bach encourages readers to reflect on the fundamental aspects of love and the ways in which perversion can distort our interactions with one another.
This book is simultaneously a 'good read,' in the sense of a novel that one cannot put down, and a feast to be savored slowly. It has a wealth of clinical detail that makes it vivid. I recommend it highly. -- Fred Pine
Sheldon Bach shows how the language of informed listening may be the only instrument that can make the bizarre not an outcast, but merely another existential member of a complex family called humanity. Dr. Bach's empathic listening is the essence of all language which is not merely interested in the sound of words but in what Robert Frost has called the sound of sense. Dr. Bach has cultivated this sound of sense knowing that it is the royal road to healing and that the language of healing is, after all, one of the great therapeutic aspects of love. This book reaches into the perverse and loving in all of us and makes the human condition a little more human, which is no small achievement. -- Eugene J. Mahon
In this clinically important work, Bach shows us a new way of listening and responding to difficult, perverse, and borderline patients. Sheldon Bach is a psychoanalyst with the unique ability to derive important truths from the study of severe mental illness and extreme examples of depravity. Bach invokes the insights of poets, novelists, and diarists. This breadth of culture enhances the depth of his humane understanding; the depth of his psychoanalytic experience enhances the breadth of his clinical wisdom. This is an engrossing work indeed. -- Arnold D. Richards and Arlene Kramer Richards
ISBN: 9780765702302
Dimensions: 229mm x 163mm x 17mm
Weight: 327g
224 pages