The Mindbrain and Dreams: An Exploration of Dreaming, Thinking, and Artistic Creation PDF
Preview The Mindbrain and Dreams: An Exploration of Dreaming, Thinking, and Artistic Creation
The Mindbrain and Dreams In The Mindbrain and Dreams: An Exploration of Dreaming, Thinking, and Artistic Creation, Mark J. Blechner argues that the mind and brain should be understood as a single unit – the “mindbrain” – that manipu- lates our raw perceptions of the world and reshapes that world through dreams, thoughts, and artistic creation. This book explores how dreams are key to understanding mental pro- cesses, and how working with dreams clinically with individuals and groups provides an essential route toward achieving transformation within the psychoanalytic process. Covering such key topics as know- ledge, emotion, metaphor, and memory, this book sets out a radical new agenda for understanding the importance of dreams in human thought and their clinical importance in psychoanalysis. Blechner builds on his previous work and takes it much farther, drawing on the latest neurosci- entific findings to set out a new way of how the mindbrain constructs reality, while providing guidance on how best to help people understand their dreams. The Mindbrain and Dreams: An Exploration of Dreaming, Thinking, and Artistic Creation will appeal to psychologists, psychoanalysts, philo- sophers, and cognitive neuroscientists who want new ways to explore how people think and understand the world. Mark J. Blechner, Ph.D., is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in New York City. He is a training and supervising psychoanalyst at William Alanson White Institute. He has taught at Columbia University, Yale University, and New York University. Psychoanalysis in a New Key Book Series Donnel B. Stern Series Editor When music is played in a new key, the melody does not change, but the notes that make up the composition do: change in the context of con- tinuity, continuity that perseveres through change. Psychoanalysis in a New Key publishes books that share the aims psychoanalysts have always had, but that approach them differently. The books in the series are not expected to advance any particular theoretical agenda, although to this date most have been written by analysts from the Interpersonal and Relational orientations. The most important contribution of a psychoanalytic book is the com- munication of something that nudges the reader’s grasp of clinical theory and practice in an unexpected direction. Psychoanalysis in a New Key creates a deliberate focus on innovative and unsettling clinical thinking. Because that kind of thinking is encouraged by exploration of the some- times surprising contributions to psychoanalysis of ideas and findings from other fields, Psychoanalysis in a New Key particularly encourages interdisciplinary studies. Books in the series have married psychoanalysis with dissociation, trauma theory, sociology, and criminology. The series is open to the consideration of studies examining the relationship between psychoanalysis and any other field – for instance, biology, literary and art criticism, philosophy, systems theory, anthropology, and political theory. But innovation also takes place within the boundaries of psycho- analysis, and Psychoanalysis in a New Key therefore also presents work that reformulates thought and practice without leaving the precincts of the field. Books in the series focus, for example, on the significance of personal values in psychoanalytic practice, on the complex interrelation- ship between the analyst’s clinical work and personal life, on the con- sequences for the clinical situation when patient and analyst are from different cultures, and on the need for psychoanalysts to accept the degree to which they knowingly satisfy their own wishes during treatment hours, often to the patient’s detriment. A full list of all titles in this series is available at: www.routledge.com/series/LEAPNKBS TiTles in This series incluDe: Vol. 43 The Mindbrain and Dreams An Exploration of Dreaming, Thinking, and Artistic Creation Mark J. Blechner Vol. 42 Further Developments in interpersonal Psychoanalysis, 1980s–2010s Evolving Interest in the Analyst’s Subjectivity Edited by Donnel B. Stern and Irwin Hirsch Vol. 41 understanding the sexual Betrayal of Boys and Men The Trauma of Sexual Abuse Edited by Richard B. Gartner Vol. 40 healing sexually Betrayed Men and Boys Treatment for Sexual Abuse, Assault, and Trauma Edited by Richard B. Gartner Vol. 39 The Voice of the Analyst Narratives on Developing a Psychoanalytic Identity Edited by Linda Hillman and Therese Rosenblatt Vol. 38 interpersonal Psychoanalysis and the enigma of consciousness Edgar A. Levenson and edited by Alan Slomowitz The Mindbrain and Dreams An Exploration of Dreaming, Thinking, and Artistic Creation Mark J. Blechner First published 2018 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor and Francis Group, an informa business © 2018 Mark J. Blechner The right of Mark J. Blechner to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Blechner, Mark J., author. Title: The mindbrain and dreams: an exploration of dreaming, thinking, and artistic creation / Mark J. Blechner. Description: New York: Routledge, 2018. | Series: Psychoanalysis in a new key book series; 43 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017052166 (print) | LCCN 2017054664 (ebook) | ISBN 9781351185677 (Master) | ISBN 9781351185653 (ePUB) | ISBN 9781351185660 ( Web PDF) | ISBN 9781351185646 (Mobi/ Kindle) | ISBN 9780815394563 (hardback: alk. paper) | ISBN 9780815394570 (pbk.: alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Dreams. | Thought and thinking. | Creative ability. | Psychoanalysis. Classification: LCC BF1078 (ebook) | LCC BF1078.B564 2018 (print) | DDC 154.6/3–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017052166 ISBN: 978-0-8153-9456-3 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-8153-9457-0 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-351-18567-7 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for? Robert Browning, Andrea del Sarto Contents List of figures xi Acknowledgments xii 1 Introduction 1 PART I How the mindbrain transforms the world 13 2 The mindbrain creates its own version of the world 15 3 Condensation, interobjects, and categories 25 4 Displacement 42 5 Metaphor 45 6 Puns – linguistic and nonlinguistic 100 7 Homoforms and homomelodies 107 8 Metonymy 111 9 Symbols 120 10 Dreams and the mindbrain’s structuring of experience 134 11 Psychological defenses and dreams 146
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