Madness and Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought

Rating:
Summary: Groundbreaking Thesis in Serious Need of Editing
Review: Dr. Sass's thesis - regarding some aspects of schizophrenia being 'super-normal' as opposed to the conventional view that schizophrenia is a completely degenerative disorder - deserves to be made in a more compelling and direct way than is done in this book. It seems to me this important point is diluted with scattered digressions and marginalia, however interesting. I hope the core ideas in his thesis will be revived and seriously researched at some point, as they certainly deserve to be.

Rating:
Summary: Buys Into Psychiatric Mythology
Review: I appreciated the depth Sass's scholarly analysis of both the artistic, and sociopolitical associations with "schizophrenic thought". What I don't understand is how he flatly forgets that Western psychiatry is in itself a culturally-constructed phenomenon. It has only existed for less than two hundred years, which is a very short time in the history of humankind, and the history of artistic production. Psychiatry has its own language, terminology, system of determining "truth"---which is particular to itself, and not shared by all cultures, throughout all time. He embraces its "inherent truth" in all of his chapter titles which refer to psychiatric analyses of behavior, and in his neurobiological discussions as well. His interesting cross- cultural analysis of tribal societies begins to point out some of the gaps: the non-universality of psychiatric world-views...but he misses the chance to further explore it. Thousands of societies have cultural, spiritual and artistic traditions which involve a cyclic and transitory notion of time and spatial parameters. Millions of people within today's "crazy culture" throughout the world, myself included, choose to defend our right to think, communicate, and express our art as a distinct, legitimate culture. We are met, in response, with the language of psychiatry...which advocates that we be forcibly locked up, drugged, electrocuted, ice-picked and restrained, and brainwashed by medical professionals into believing our truths are false. These are tremendous civil-rights issues that stem directly from psychiatric philosophy. In this book, which I was originally excited to read, I find Sass has simply further "mystified" us into an anthropological freak show. He truly had an opportunity to advocate on our behalf, and missed it. For those interested, I highly reccommed the classic works of Dr. Thomas Szaz, and modern crazy culture authors, such as Irit Shimrat, Shiela Gilhooley and Persimmon Blackridge. Psychiatric insiders argue that we are NOT victims, delusional, or ill...and that our art is not "symptomatic" of disease. We are simply a culture....one of many, on a richly diverse planet.

Rating:
Summary: Buys Into Psychiatric Mythology
Review: I appreciated the depth Sass's scholarly analysis of both the artistic, and sociopolitical associations with "schizophrenic thought". What I don't understand is how he flatly forgets that Western psychiatry is in itself a culturally-constructed phenomenon. It has only existed for less than two hundred years, which is a very short time in the history of humankind, and the history of artistic production. Psychiatry has its own language, terminology, system of determining "truth"---which is particular to itself, and not shared by all cultures, throughout all time. He embraces its "inherent truth" in all of his chapter titles which refer to psychiatric analyses of behavior, and in his neurobiological discussions as well. His interesting cross- cultural analysis of tribal societies begins to point out some of the gaps: the non-universality of psychiatric world-views...but he misses the chance to further explore it. Thousands of societies have cultural, spiritual and artistic traditions which involve a cyclic and transitory notion of time and spatial parameters. Millions of people within today's "crazy culture" throughout the world, myself included, choose to defend our right to think, communicate, and express our art as a distinct, legitimate culture. We are met, in response, with the language of psychiatry...which advocates that we be forcibly locked up, drugged, electrocuted, ice-picked and restrained, and brainwashed by medical professionals into believing our truths are false. These are tremendous civil-rights issues that stem directly from psychiatric philosophy. In this book, which I was originally excited to read, I find Sass has simply further "mystified" us into an anthropological freak show. He truly had an opportunity to advocate on our behalf, and missed it. For those interested, I highly reccommed the classic works of Dr. Thomas Szaz, and modern crazy culture authors, such as Irit Shimrat, Shiela Gilhooley and Persimmon Blackridge. Psychiatric insiders argue that we are NOT victims, delusional, or ill...and that our art is not "symptomatic" of disease. We are simply a culture....one of many, on a richly diverse planet.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and Informative
Review: Louis Sass has written a fascinating comparison of modernism and schizophrenia and related disorders -- I couldn't put this book down. Sass' knowledge of modern art and literature, coupled with his experience as a clinical psychologist and professor at Rutgers, makes this book. It's extremely well-written -- the language is complex, but by no means stilted and academic for the sake of being academic. Sass' words will catch you and draw you through fascinating discussions about identity, language, visual representation, and much more. He presents balanced observations and makes appropriate connections -- he doesn't romanticize schizophrenia. One story he relays expresses this perfectly (pardon my paraphrasing): James Joyce discussed the creative similarities between him and his daughter, a schizophrenic, with Carl Jung. Jung described the difference between Joyce's creativity and his daughter's seeming creativity by saying that the difference was that Joyce was diving down into the depths while his daughter was falling. This is a perfect analogy to put Sass' book into perspective. If you have any interest in issues of identity, psychology, and modern culture, you will want to read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Best book I've seen for explaining schizoid personalities
Review: While growing up I had several friends, and acquaintances, who were diagnosed as having schizoid personalities. I was curious, so I read several books on the subject and this is the only one that actually seemed to line it's theories up with what I knew from personal experience. Namely, that these were people who were hyperconscious. He did well in explaining how this could create distortions in viewpoint rather than enhancements. A few of my friends were even fans of the artists and philosophers referenced in the book as examples. His references to Foucault, his theory of the panopticon, and the empirical and transcendental doublet were also very insightful in explaining his theory.

Rating:
Summary: An intellectual treasure, and a lot of fun too
Review: With an interpretation so rigorous and self-critical that it is almost cruel, Sass teases out the threads of experience joining madness to modernism. Unlike some who do this sort of work, Sass is well-versed not only in psychology and psychiatry but also in contemporary intellectual discourse, and makes sophisticated use of the work of figures such as Foucault and de Man in his reading. He argues provocatively, using literary, artistic, and autobiographical works as well as empirical data, that schizophrenia is not (as many say) a form of Dionysian primitivity but rather a kind of violent entanglement in the paradoxes of hyperconsciousness. This book is absolutely a must read for anyone interested in schizophrenia or in modernism. Luckily, Sass is a fine writer and makes the book quite an enjoyable read as well.