Hauntings: Psychoanalysis and Ghostly Transmissions

Hauntings: Psychoanalysis and Ghostly Transmissions

Studies in the Psychosocial Edited by Peter Redman, The Open University, UK, Stephen Frosh, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK, and Wendy Hollway, The Open University, UK Titles include: Stephen Frosh HAUNTINGS: PSYCHOANALYSIS AND GHOSTLY TRANSMISSIONS Studies in the Psychosocial Series Series Standing Order 978 0 230 30858 9 (hardback) 978 0 230 30859 6 (paperback) (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England

Hauntings: Psychoanalysis and Ghostly Transmissions Stephen Frosh Professor of Psychology and Pro-Vice-Master, Department of Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK

Stephen Frosh 2013 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-03124-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his rights to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-137-03127-3 ISBN 978-1-137-03125-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137031259 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

In memory of my father, Sidney Frosh, 1923 2012. May his memory be for a blessing.

Contents Acknowledgements viii 1 Introduction: Psychoanalysis as a Ghostly System 1 2 Facing the Truth about Ourselves 15 3 Ghostly Psychoanalysis 38 4 The Evil Eye 66 5 Telepathy 92 6 Transmission 117 7 Forgiveness 141 Conclusion 166 References 171 Index 177 vii

Acknowledgements The starting point for this book was an article called Hauntings: Psychoanalysis and Ghostly Transmission, 2012 The Johns Hopkins University Press, that first appeared in American Imago, 69, 2 (2012): 241 64. Part of the discussion of the Akedah in Chapter 6 was first published as Psychosocial Textuality: Religious Identities and Textual Constructions, Subjectivity, 3, 4 (2010): 426 41. Translations of the commentary on Genesis by Rashi are from M. Rosenbaum and A. Silbermann, Pentateuch with Rashi s Commentary: Genesis (New York: Hebrew Publishing Company, published during the 1930s). I would like to thank Derek Hook for his very helpful review of the first draft of this book. Thanks too to Angelina Baydala, Dov Lerner, Kate Loewenthal, Roger Luckhurst, Belinda Mandelbaum, Enrique Mandelbaum, Andrew Margolis, Rabbi David Mason, Jeremy Schonfield and Reina van der Wiel for various textual pointers. I would also like to thank the students of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities Critical Theory Summer School for their enthusiastic response to my ideas. I am grateful to Birkbeck College for the gift of a period of study leave in 2011 12, during which this book was written. viii