Saving the Modern Soul: Therapy, Emotions, and the Culture of Self-HelpThe language of psychology is all-pervasive in American culture—from The Sopranos to Oprah, from the abundance of self-help books to the private consulting room, and from the support group to the magazine advice column. Saving the Modern Soul examines the profound impact of therapeutic discourse on our lives and on our contemporary notions of identity. Eva Illouz plumbs today's particular cultural moment to understand how and why psychology has secured its place at the core of modern identity. She examines a wide range of sources to show how self-help culture has transformed contemporary emotional life and how therapy complicates individuals' lives even as it claims to dissect their emotional experiences and heal trauma. |
Contents
| 1 | |
A Cultural Innovator | 22 |
3 From Homo economicus to Homo communicans | 58 |
4 The Tyranny of Intimacy | 105 |
5 Triumphant Suffering | 152 |
Other editions - View all
Saving the Modern Soul: Therapy, Emotions, and the Culture of Self-Help Eva Illouz Limited preview - 2008 |
Saving the Modern Soul: Therapy, Emotions, and the Culture of Self-help Eva Illouz No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
Abraham Maslow action actors anger argue become behavior Cambridge capital Chicago claim cognitive communication conflict corporation cultural sociology defined economic Elton Mayo emotional competence emotional control emotional intelligence emotional style emotionally example experience expression feelings feminism feminist Frank Furedi Freud Freudian gender human Ibid ideas identity increasingly individual institutions interactions INTERVIEWER intimacy knowledge language marriage masculinity Masters and Johnson Max Weber meaning mental Michel Foucault modern moral needs normative notion one’s organizations person Peter Gay political popular culture practice problems productivity professional psyche psychic psychoanalysis psychology rational realm Redbook reflexive relations relationships role S. N. Eisenstadt self-control self-help selfhood sexual skills social society sociologists Sociology sphere structure success suggests support groups talk texts theory therapeutic discourse therapeutic narrative therapy tion tional transform tural turn understand University Press Weber women workers workplace workshop York