Publisher's Synopsis
Are divisive political forces the sole cause of racism and its alarming recurrence in contemporary society? Or are there also subtler, more intractable reasons for racism's irrational power and historical persistence? This collection of essays takes the study of racism in a radically new direction--that of unconscious fantasies and identifications--offering perspectives from a variety of leading figures in many fields. The essays engage with postcolonial, political, and psychoanalytic theory, as well as with a wide range of texts and theories, from Freud's perspective on fantasy and aggression to Hilda Doolittle's film, "Borderline", and Rian Malan's "My Traitor's Heart". The contributors address a range of topics, including the need for a global, human-rights centred psychoanalytic policy; the role of identification and fantasy in colonial literature and film; the endurance of group and national ties; miscegenation and interracial desire; and the influence of the unconscious on violence.
