Embodied ideas and divided selves: Revisiting Laing via Bakhtin.
Saved in:
| Title: | Embodied ideas and divided selves: Revisiting Laing via Bakhtin. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Burkitt, Ian (AUTHOR), Sullivan, Paul (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | British Journal of Social Psychology. Sep2009, Vol. 48 Issue 3, p563-577. 15p. |
| Subjects: | Bakhtin, M. M. (Mikhail Mikhaĭlovich), 1895-1975, Laing, R. D., Psychoses, Social interaction, Ontology, Phenomenology |
| Abstract: | In this article, we apply Mikhail Bakhtin's model of a 'divided self' to R.D. Laing's eponymous work on the lived experience of divided selves in psychosis'. Both of these authors offer intriguing insights into the fracturing of self through its social relationships (including the 'micro-dialogues' staged for oneself) but from uniquely different perspectives. Bakhtin (1984) uses Dostoevsky's novels as his material for a theory of self, centrally concerned with moments of split identity, crisis, and personal transformation, while Laing relies on his patient's accounts of 'psychosis'. We will outline how two key Bakhtinian divisions of the self (spirit/soul and authoritative/internally persuasive discourse) help to make sense of Laing's descriptions of his patient's experiences and micro-dialogues. Conversely, when refracted through Laing's phenomenology Bakhtin's account of the self becomes richer and somewhat darkened in terms of a double-edged ontology, which describes a maximally open self but one that is consumed by ideas, unable to manage their contradictions. The implications of this for managing the dilemmas of self-identity will be drawn out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of British Journal of Social Psychology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
|
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Login for full access.
|
|
Be the first to leave a comment!
