Cultural Zoo: Animals in the Human Mind and Its Sublimations [Paperback]

Salman Akhtar (Editor), Vamik D. Volkan (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 293 pages
• Publisher: International Universities Press (January 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823610934
• ISBN-13: 978-0823610938
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,697,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Connections between the human psyche and animal avatars, July 5, 2005

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cultural Zoo: Animals in the Human Mind and Its Sublimations (Paperback)

Cultural Zoo: Animals In The Human Mind And Its Sublimations is an anthology of essays by learned psychologists in regard to connections between the human psyche and animal avatars. Individual writings include "Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the Bond Between Man and Animals", "Artists and Beasts: Sacred and Sanctified", "Immigration, National Identity, and Animals", and much more. Exploring psychodynamic themes in depth, Cultural Zoo proffers a multitude of insights from interpretations of animals in dream imagery to lasting effects that human encounters with live animals can have on the unconscious mind. A welcome contributions to psychoanalytic study, research and reference shelves.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Animals in the Mind, April 14, 2005

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P. Nagy "revreader" (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cultural Zoo: Animals in the Human Mind and Its Sublimations (Paperback)

Our cousins the animals, swarm, creep, fly, swim and crawl all about us, even sharing our houses and infesting our bodies. We hunt them, breed them, clothe ourselves with them and eat them for dinner (as they sometimes do us). They populate our literature, myths, religions, arts, our language and its metaphors, and they haunt our unconscious fantasies and our dreams. The profoundest, fiercest, and most intimate urges and feelings within us are our animal passions and instincts. The parade of animals that accompany us through life is held up for review and appreciation in these delightful essays, all of which share a dedication to the understanding of human life and culture through the lens of psychoanalytic theory in its manifold diversity. This book is a major contribution to culture and psychoanalytic literature. From the prehistoric art of Lascaux to Picasso, from The Fly to the American eagle, the psychoanalytic perceptions are subtle and suggestive, the aesthetic, film, and national insights are a delight.
Contents
Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the Bond Between Man and Animals
Dreams of Animals
Human to Animal Transformations in Literature
Animals in Children's Stories
Artists and Beasts
Animals, Music, and Psychoanalysis
Animals and Religion
An Annotated Visit to the Cinematic Zoo Immigration
National Identity and Animals