Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: The 'entry point' into the history of psychoanalysis in India could be offered by 'Savage Freud', Girindrasekhar Bose (1886-1953) (Sinha, 1954, pp.62-74; Nandy, 1995, pp.81-144), who practiced proto-psychiatry in a mental hospital, taught psychology and psychoanalysis in the Calcutta University and wrote (psychoanalytically singed) commentaries on the Bhāgvad Gītā (1948, 1931), the Yoga Sūtras (1966), the Purāas (2001, 1934) and proposed, A New Theory of Mental Life.Girindrasekhar Bose, already a medical professional, obtained a Master's degree in psychology (1917) and was awarded the first doctorate in psychology at an Indian university in 1921.His PhD thesis was titled 'The Concept of Repression'.In writing a 'history of psychoanalysis in India' this paper encounters two questions: why write a history of psychoanalysis and how does one write a history of psychoanalysis.In the process the paper also distinguishes between a logic of the Indian psyche and an 'Indian' logic of the psyche.There is however no one understanding of India, and 'India' is indeed a multi-stranded perspective -a perspective haunted by numerous inner contradictions.
Source: Revista de Fomento Social
Author: Anup Dhar
Institution: Ambedkar University Delhi
Language: English
Subfield: General Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2903213448