Female Adolescence: Psychoanalytic Reflections on Literature - Softcover

Dalsimer, Katherine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300040318 ISBN 13: 9780300040319

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1987

Synopsis

A sensitive, gracefully written exploration of the distinctiveness of the female adolescent experience. The author combines insights drawn from her clinical practice with informed analyses of familiar works of literature. Her premise is that literature does not merely exemplify but deepens our understanding of psychological processes.
"A brilliant and evocative analysis of the transition from girlhood to womanhood, with its longings, its pain, and the pride of growing up. The depiction is rich with the particularities of the experiences of adolescent girls, and provides a welcome contrast to the usual rendering of this period as a variation on male development."—Lila Braine, Chair, Department of Psychology, Barnard College "Masterful analyses of five literary works. . . . Dalsimer’s interpretations are remarkable for the intelligent and informed acuity of her psychoanalytic observations as well as for their preservation of the texture of lived experience. A uniquely felicitous conjunction of psychoanalysis and literature."—Choice

"Dalsimer’s commentaries prove consistently empathetic, discerning, and convincing. . . . This beautifully writen book renders important service both to psychoanalysis and to literary studies."—Paul Schwaber, Professor of Letters, Wesleyan University
 "This book will be treasured by anyone who has taught or treated an adolescent girl, or read a book about one, or, like Freud and the rest of us, simply wondered at the miracle of transformation of a girl into a woman."—Robert Michels, M.D., Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College

About this title

From the Back Cover:

In this book my subject is the experience of the girl in becoming a woman. It is a subject about which a psychoanalytic perspective is invaluable: our understanding of the development of children and adolescents has been richly elaborated in recent decades.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0300040318
• ISBN 13: 9780300040319
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 149