Trauma : A Genealogy [Hardcover]

Ruth Leys (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0226477657 | ISBN-13: 978-0226477657 | Edition: 1

Psychic trauma is one of the most frequently invoked ideas in the behavioral sciences and the humanities today. Yet bitter disputes have marked the discussion of trauma ever since it first became an issue in the 1870s, growing even more heated in recent years following official recognition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

In a book that is bound to ignite controversy, Ruth Leys investigates the history of the concept of trauma. She explores the emergence of multiple personality disorder, Freud's approaches to trauma, medical responses to shellshock and combat fatigue, Sándor Ferenczi's revisions of psychoanalysis, and the mutually reinforcing, often problematic work of certain contemporary neurobiological and postmodernist theorists. Leys argues that the concept of trauma has always been fundamentally unstable, oscillating uncontrollably between two competing models, each of which tends at its limit to collapse into the other.

A powerfully argued work of intellectual history, Trauma will rewrite the terms of future discussion of its subject.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Can trauma really be relived or is the quality of memory such that it is impossible to repeat experience except by a sort of theatrical simulation? What actually happens in therapy in which repressed experiences surface, and does it really matter whether the remembered trauma is "true" as long as the narrative account serves its purpose? Although she provides no answers to these and other longstanding questions, Leys's groundbreaking book provides a framework in which to consider the conflicts that, since the early 20th century, have beset theorists and clinicians involved in the treatment of trauma victims. Not for the intellectually timid, this book moves through psychoanalytic theory from Freud and Ferenczi to Lacan, encompassing the treatment of trauma victims from three wars and ending with a scathing critique of the newer neurobiologically influenced theories of Cathy Caruth and Besel A. Van der Kolk. This genealogy does not aim to tie together threads of similar ideology, but instead points out where trauma theory seems to fall into a crevasse and implode. It is impossible to read this book without participating in Leys's unboundaried thinking, which, through a process of constant synthesis and leaps of connection, stretches the mind. (June)

Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

In this psychohistorical survey of the traumatic 20th century, Leys (Humanities Ctr., Johns Hopkins Univ.) shakes up scientists, clinicians, and postmodern literary gurus with an erudite and humbling critique. This key document for psychoanalysis and hypnosis as well as trauma studies and intellectual history is based on the author's in-depth research and strong background in the history of psychology. In eight chapters (three of which have appeared in scholarly journals) that traverse Freud, multiple personality (Morton Prince), war neuroses and malingering (S ndor Ferenczi, Abram Kardiner, Pierre Marie Janet, William Walters Sargant), posttraumatic stress disorder, and literary theory (Bessel van der Kolk and Cathy CaruthDboth of whom she dismantles), Leys elaborates on "tensions between mimesis and antimimesis" in competing theories and treatments of trauma. Leys uses Freud critic Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen to good effect and writes clearly and emphatically enoughDespecially in the introduction and conclusionDto be forgiven some lapses into academic gibberish. This is for sophisticated readers. Highly recommended for academic collections in psychology, medicine, history, literary criticism, and philosophy and for larger general libraries.DE. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (June 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226477657
• ISBN-13: 978-0226477657
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,561,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Very Selective Use of Data, October 1, 2001

By 

E. Campisi "extrabooksalbany" (Baldwin, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trauma : A Genealogy (Paperback)

I am giving this book 3 stars only because it is well researched. You can find an overall sketch of some of the important studies in trauma over the last century. However, Ley's main theses, that studies of trauma have oscillated between mimesis and anti-mimesis, and that there are no biological bases for reactions to traumatic stress, shows the weakness of approaches from the humanities. I think she totally discounts the mind body connection, and while others may find her "scathing" dismissal of Caruth and VanDerKolk's work "intriguing" I find it unnecessarily nasty and inappropriate. I don't go for scholars who try to build their reputation at the expense of others, especially since she doesn't come up with anything beyond a literature review. In fact, she says she is producing a genealogy not a history so she can bounce around among different themes. Fine, but it also becomes a poor rationalization for an overselective use of data to back up her argument. In fact, she ends up not being very sympathic to the reality of trauma, and I find her approach generally insensitive.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb survey of trauma psychology., January 4, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: Trauma : A Genealogy (Hardcover)

Trauma: A Genealogy is a survey of the history of the concept of trauma, tackling a controversial topic which examines the emergence of multiple personality disorders, combat fatigue, and other psychological conditions sparked by trauma. Her examination of the concepts and works of Freud and others reinforces her argument that the concept of trauma has been fundamentally unstable, revolving between two very different models of perception. College-level psychology students will find Trauma: A Genealogy intriguing.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How does this book affect literary theory?, January 31, 2005

By 

jintelligent (south bend, indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trauma : A Genealogy (Paperback)

I read this book particularly for her response to Cathy Caruth's work on trauma. Another reveiwer of this book considers Ley's response a bit too "nasty" and "scathing." But i think that upon re-reading Caruth's text it is clear that Caruth cuts corners in her argument and rather nuancing her ideas she forces Freudian and Lacanian texts to fit her theory. For instance, Caruth mentions a story that Freud references. In this story the man kills his beloved by accident in a battle. Caruth says that he doesn't realize it and then finds out later that he killed her. Caruth uses this moment to say that trauma can not be faced directly. But that's not what happens in the story. In the actual story, the man finds out immediately that he made a mistake in killing his beloved. He even mandates her funeral arrangements and all that. Secondly, Caruth puts so much emphasis on the man that she makes it seem like HE is the victim and not the innocent woman he has just murdered. This kind of uneven analysis (where one person is viewed as traumatized and actual innocent victims are put in the background) is one of the reasons that we have so many hurt people. I think Ruth Leys points out these problems clearly in Caruth's text and I, honestly, don't know how one can make a kind response to the mistakes Caruth makes. Once you consider the ramifications that would occur upon putting her ideas into practice, I find it difficult to think of a polite response to her theories of trauma.