Marx and Freud in Latin America : Politics, Psychoanalysis, and Religion in Times of Terror

This book assesses the untimely relevance of Marx and Freud for Latin America, thinkers alien to the region who became an inspiration to its beleaguered activists, intellectuals, writers and artists during times of political and cultural oppression. Bruno Bosteels presents ten case studies arguing that art and literature -- the novel, poetry, theatre, film -- more than any militant tract or theoretical essay, can give us a glimpse into Marxism and psychoanalysis, not so much as sciences of history or of the unconscious, respectively, but rather as two intricately related modes of understanding the formation of subjectivity. -- Back cover The turbulent region through the eyes of Marx and Freud. Marx and Freud in Latin America seeks to reassess the timeless relevance of the work of Marx and Freud for Latin America, based on the premise that Marxism and psychoanalysis are neither philosophical doctrines nor positivist sciences but rather intervening doctrines of the subject, in political and clinical-affective situations. After going over the possible reasons for Marx and Freud's own missed encounter with the realities of Latin America, the book presents ten studies to argue that art and literature--the novel, poetry, theater, film--perhaps more so than the militant tract or the theoretical essay provide a symptomatic site for the investigation of such processes of subjectivization.

The turbulent continent through the eyes of Marx and Freud.

This book assesses the untimely relevance of Marx and Freud for Latin America, thinkers alien to the region who became an inspiration to its beleaguered activists, intellectuals, writers and artists during times of political and cultural oppression.

Bruno Bosteels presents ten case studies arguing that art and literature-the novel, poetry, theatre, film-more than any militant tract or theoretical essay, can give us a glimpse into Marxism and psychoanalysis, not so much as sciences of history or of the unconscious, respectively, but rather as two intricately related modes of understanding the formation of subjectivity.