|
The philosophies of the West are particularly two dimensional, and these are distinct from Eastern philosophies, which are sated with metaphysical and multidimensional phenomena that are abundantly conspicuous in the languages and cultures of the east. However, in view of the current ideological and political demography of the world, the hegemony of Western systems of knowledge is all-pervasive and the study of the human psyche is no exception.
This book is a compilation of essays that view the people and culture of India through the twin perspective of psychoanalysis, a discipline conceived in late nineteenth-century Europe, and the Indian system of knowledge in the context of its traditionally enriched polyphonic splendour. It is an attempt to delve into the mind, body and spirit of India, through both the ancient spiritual and modern scientific insights, with writings that are rich and replete with cultural and historical resonances.
The editor, Salman Akhtar is a renowned psychoanalyst, a professor of psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. Also a poet, Akhtar has to his credit six volumes of poetry in English and Urdu. He has authored or edited more than 30 books on a variety of topics in psychology, psychiatry and psychoanalysis. In Freud along the Ganges, Akhtar attempts to find a meeting point for the two things he is most passionate about: Psychoanalysis and India. “The encounter I have arranged is aimed at enriching both these idioms, and its message is directed toward both the Indian and psychoanalytic communities” (p. xix). The style is simply to juxtapose the two perspectives, steering clear of any conclusive comments about the competence of one vis-à-vis the other. Notably, the manner in which the essays have been crafted is indeed responsible for the creation of a space in which readers are left to construct a framework of their own.
What is especially exciting for the reader is a rare and intimate glimpse of the development of psychoanalysis as a discipline ‘almost independently of Freud’s direct involvement’ in pre- independent India. At the beginning of the anthology, Girindrashekhar Bose is introduced as the pioneer and Father of Indian Psychoanalysis. He published his doctoral thesis titled Concept of Repression in 1921, though he had access to some of Freud’s work only after that. Freud’s own surprise at the psychoanalysis extant in India is reflected in the Bose-Freud correspondence that takes place subsequently and it might be a welcome revelation to many like us. Besides Freud’s dwindling patience with and eventual turning away from psychoanalysis in India and Indians in general, the attitude of British colonialists also reflected the Eurocentric prejudice against the natives. Undeniably, all this was critical in the disengagement of Indian academicians from the discipline of psychoanalysis, conspicuous by its negligible presence in post-independent India. The trend is now in reverse, with the Indian diaspora increasingly inclined towards psychoanalytical training.
The three main subjects that are used to contrast Western psychoanalysis with Indian thought, with particular reference to Vedantic philosophy, are those of the body, mind and spirit. It is in this context that the authors explore this theme further.
In the section on mind, Prakash Desai and Hyman Muslin trace Gandhi’s development from his birth to his arrival in South Africa. In a sense it is a psychoanalytical perspective on the making of Gandhi. The narrative offered is very enriching, given the unfading enthusiasm for Gandhi and Gandhian thought across nations and disciplines. Another historically stirring account by Santanu Biswas is that of Rabindranath Tagore’s own journey into psychoanalysis, begins with his criticism of its fundamental premises: he questions the priority of the sex instinct over the instinct of self-assertion, whether psychoanalysis could be termed a science at all, and last but not least, the rejection of psychoanalysis in literature and art. Interestingly, this takes a radically different turn and his resistance to psychoanalysis withers under the influence of his correspondence with his friend Amiya Chakravarty.
Further, the dimensions of the familial among Indians and Americans are explored by Alan Roland in the context of resisting the imposition of Western psychoanalytical assumptions on the Indian self, and amidst the pervasive influence of urbanization as well as the already existing tradition of spiritual seeking in India. “There is a further critical issue in psychoanalysis, itself, in India as to what extent it remains unreflectedly grounded in Euro-American norms of development from whichever model, or to what extent it frames a significantly different normative developmental theory rooted in the Indian experience” (p.84).
Of immense significance to contemporary pedagogy is Salman Akhtar’s discussion on Hindu-Muslim relations in India and its impact on the development of the Indian psyche. This account is valuable not just due to its historical context, but because of Akhtar’s analysis of the ongoing dialectics of the phenomenon and its continuing impact on various generations of Indians. Salman Akhtar begins his inquiry from a point where the conventional paradigm of the social sciences is at a standstill and chooses to remain so.
One of the most hypnotizing influences on the psyche of the Indian masses, Bollywood cinema, is examined in this section by Akhtar and Komal Choksi, with particular reference to the depiction of minorities and what implications that has for religion and secularism in India. The relationship between Hindi cinema and the psychoanalytical undercurrents of Bollywood offers deep insights to anyone who wishes to know about the multiple layers of the Indian mind.
The section on body begins with an essay by Sudhir Kakar and John M. Ross examining the various interpretative notions of the relationship between Radha and Krishna, two major icons of the Bhakti movement in India, ranging from the sexual to the asexual through the writings of poets across centuries. An essay by Jaswant Guzdar and Meenakshi Krishna explores the mythical resonances and diasporic paradigms of feminine identity, with case studies of Indian American women. It illustrates the conflict of that immigrant women face while on the one hand confronting the conservative familial space, and on the other the sexually expressive space of urban America.
In the concluding part of this section, Bhaskar Sripada goes on to elucidate upon a plural Oedipus framework that is contradictory to Freud’s unilinear paradigm. He speaks of sexuality as a fluid phenomenon in the conditioning of Indians, with particular reference to perspectives on Hinduism and examples from Hindu mythology: “There are benefits to revisiting the current notions of the Oedipus complex from the point of view of psychic bisexuality. Hindu considerations of the Oedipus complex can enliven the early traditions of psychoanalytic insight that seem to have become dormant. Hindus can gain some understanding about yet another form of human enquiry while marvelling at the insights that have been kept alive within their own great traditions for centuries.” (p. 266)
The last section on spirit consists of four essays that may be downright confounding for the Western discipline of psychoanalysis. It begins with an essay on the contextualization of Indian Religions and Hindu Henotheism by Dwarkanath G. Rao. “Unity and plurality are the necessary underlying concepts of God in India. Millennia of tradition, many growing in insulated caves throughout the country, and forged by foreign and indigenous philosophies and folkways, have led to the vast canvas of ideas and ways of life seen in present-day India” (p. 271) Indian thought is also free from the constraints of dualism that confines Western science. The birth of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and indigenous religious traditions in India has largely brought about a syncretic view of God. “The concept of God in India as a theological entity in the usual sense is insufficient. Atheistic sentiment is possible to express within the Indian context and still be religious. This is due to a range of God concepts—formless to formed and without attribute to richly endowed attribute” (p.302).
The essay by Satish Reddy is a portrayal of the Bhagwad Gita as a process of psychoanalysis. “The logic of the structure and teachings of the Gita can be seen as constituting a transformative dialogue that, while culturally and idiomatically distinct, is akin to a psychoanalytic process” (p. 310). There are also stark differences between the two. In Freud’s technique the ongoing analysis is not revealed to the client due to the apprehension of resistance, whereas the Gita follows a “teaching down” approach where the analysis is continually revealed and resistances continually dealt with and transformed. While Reddy admits that a psychoanalytic approach to the Gita may obscure its religiosity, he feels that it has much to offer in understanding the text without denouncing its sanctity.
In a similar vein, Jeffrey B. Rubin acknowledges the presence of a psychoanalytic archetype in Buddhist theory situated within its historical significance. The culture of post modernism demands that there exist a crossroad between the extreme depersonalization propounded by Buddhist teachings on the one hand and obsessive individualism underlying psychoanalytic theory on the other.
Finally in “Advaita Vedanta, Psychoanalysis and the Self”, Madhusudana Rao Vallabhaneni distinguishes two worlds that have been remarkably insulated from each other: one is Freud’s, grounded firmly in philosophical materialism, and the other of Vedantic thought for which spiritual transcendentalism is also a reality. While they share the common goals of “instinct mastery” and “psychic harmony” between them, the concept of ‘Self’ differs considerably between the two. The self in the Freudian tradition merely consists of the mind and its three agencies: id, ego and super ego. But Vedanta conceptualizes the self as a multi-sheathed soul, with physical and metaphysical dimensions that exist as both one and many at the same time, and the consciousness of which can be experienced only in deep meditative states. How and whether these two philosophies can converge in terms of their therapeutic significance is a question left to ponder over.
In the epilogue, Prajna P. Prasher plunges into the Ganges, its mythopoeisis, its metaphorization and its internalization in the symbolic culture of India; in particular, Indian cinema. It is interesting to note how this gangetic metaphor is of specific importance in constructing the identity of Indian women in both its pure nurturing roles and its wild turbulent forms. The former represents venerated motherhood and the latter, often denigrated and sought to be controlled, represents the sexuality of the woman. It is not without inherent meanings That concerns about the purity and pollution of the Ganga run parallel to the concerns of purity and pollution of the woman is not without intrinsic meanings.
I’d like to convey that this anthology serves three major purposes in a very lucid manner. First, it gives the readers a deep insight into the history of development of psychoanalysis in India, something that is not commonly known. Second, it presents an indigenous perspective to counter the hegemony of the Western approach to psychopathology. And this is hugely significant—both in terms of the political stance it assumes and the holistic growth of the human sciences—for the practice of psychoanalysis itself. And last but not least, it reiterates the exuberance of Indian philosophy and its relevance in problematizing and de-problematizing contemporary issues and techniques of psychotherapy.
While the essays are somewhat disjointed, the issues chosen are the ones most vital for examining the cross-currents between psychoanalysis and Indian philosophy. The aim of this effort is to provide a forum for two worlds to meet and create the possibility of enriching each other. For those interested in the thin lines that blur thickened boundaries, for those searching for new possibilities in interdisciplinary thinking and for those who are simply fascinated by the magnificence of a plural India, Akhtar’s menu is a treat.
TOP |
