Madness and Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought [Paperback]

Louis A. Sass (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1994

The similarities between madness and modernism are striking: defiance of authority, nihilism, extreme relativism, distortions of time, strange transformations of self, and much more. In this book, Louis Sass, a clinical psychologist, offers a new vision of schizophrenia, comparing it with the works of such artists and writers as Kafka, Beckett, and Duchamp and philosophers including Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault and Derrida. It provides a portrait of the world of the madman, along with a commentary on modernist and postmodernist culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Does the schizophrenic's chaotic inner world resemble modern art and literature? Sass, a clinical psychologist and Rutgers professor, argues that schizophrenia and modernism display striking affinities: fragmentation, defiance of authority, multiple viewpoints, self-referentiality and rejection of the external world in favor of an omnipotent self or, alternately, a total loss of self. While the parallels he draws often seem superficial, there is much to ponder in Sass's notion that schizophrenia's core traits are exaggerations of tendencies fostered by our culture. This dense, startling work examines schizophrenic inauthenticity in light of the thought of Nietzsche, that champion of self-invention and the mask. Sass analyzes Kafka's introversion, Baudelaire's esthetics of disdain, Alfred Jarry's robotlike persona and the loss of self suffered by Antonin Artaud, a diagnosed schizophrenic. Further, he likens schizophrenics' deviant language to the prose of Rimbaud, Sartre, Beckett and Barthes. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

In this fascinating book...Sass sets out in largely uncharted directions...Displaying an impressive command of philosophical, literary and clinical literature on subjects of enormous complexity...[he] arrives at some highly original and profoundly disquieting insights. (Brigitte Berger New York Times Book Review )

This marvelous book...provides the richest description of the schizophrenic's inner world since R. D. Laing's deservedly classic The Divided Self...An inspired documentation of the interrelationships of modernism, schizophrenia, and our current cultural life. (Richard Restak, M.D. Washington Post Book World )

A monumental, exciting, and troubling book, a new landmark in the study of the modern era. (Kenneth Baker San Francisco Chronicle )

Wholly fascinating...Madness and Modernism is rooted in a thorough knowledge of the psychological literature, but [Sass] also draws on an extensive acquaintance with 19th and 20th-century art, literature and philosophy...Powerful, lucid and original...Should revolutionise our thinking about the workings of the human mind. (Iain McGilchrist London Review of Books )

[A] brilliant study...An important contribution, not only to our understanding of schizophrenia but also to our comprehension of the nature of mental illness in general. (Contemporary Psychology )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 595 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674541375
• ISBN-13: 978-0674541375
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #517,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating similarities between modernism and schizophrenia August 19, 1997

By Alexia

Format:Paperback

Louis Sass has written a fascinating comparison
of modernism and schizophrenia and related
disorders -- I couldn't put this book down. Sass'
knowledge of modern art and literature, coupled
with his experience as a clinical psychologist and
professor at Rutgers, makes this book. It's
extremely well-written -- the language is complex,
but by no means stilted and academic for the sake
of being academic. Sass' words will catch you and
draw you through fascinating discussions about
identity, language, visual representation, and
much more. He presents balanced observations and makes appropriate connections -- he doesn't
romanticize schizophrenia. One story he relays
expresses this perfectly (pardon my paraphrasing):
James Joyce discussed the creative similarities
between him and his daughter, a schizophrenic,
with Carl Jung. Jung described the difference
between Joyce's creativity and his daughter's
seeming creativity by saying that the difference
was that Joyce was diving down into the depths
while his daughter was falling. This is a perfect
analogy to put Sass' book into perspective.

If you have any interest in issues of identity,
psychology, and modern culture, you will want to
read this book.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An intellectual treasure, and a lot of fun too October 19, 2000

By whomi

Format:Paperback

With an interpretation so rigorous and self-critical that it is almost cruel, Sass teases out the threads of experience joining madness to modernism. Unlike some who do this sort of work, Sass is well-versed not only in psychology and psychiatry but also in contemporary intellectual discourse, and makes sophisticated use of the work of figures such as Foucault and de Man in his reading. He argues provocatively, using literary, artistic, and autobiographical works as well as empirical data, that schizophrenia is not (as many say) a form of Dionysian primitivity but rather a kind of violent entanglement in the paradoxes of hyperconsciousness. This book is absolutely a must read for anyone interested in schizophrenia or in modernism. Luckily, Sass is a fine writer and makes the book quite an enjoyable read as well.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Informative March 14, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

The erudite Louis Sass provides insight not only into the experience of schizophrenia but also its expression in modern art. Although his thesis is that schizophrenia is not a regression in mentality but a hypertrophy of consciousness, he never allows the reader to forget that it is still a debilitating illness. His book introduced me to and helped me understand a number of artists and writers, especially Giorgio DiChirico. Not an easy book, but readable and rewarding.