Plural Psychologies: Interrogating Mental Illness in Anglophone African Fiction (Narratives and Mental Health #5)

Marking one of the first contributions to the nascent field of postcolonial medical humanities, this study explores the role that Anglophone African literatures play in conversations about mental health and psychology: The novels and short stories selected for this book resist the colonial thrust and systemic racism of Western psychology, foregrounding culture-specific and individual visions of mind, body, health and illness. For instance, the spirits in Emezi’s Freshwater are decidedly not a sign of dissociative identity disorder. Embedded in Igbo cosmology, the novel plays with readers' possible expectations of psychological fiction. The study throws into relief how literature articulates and constructs a plurality of psychologies, combining literary studies, transcultural and African psychology, critical disability studies, postcolonial and translation theory and critical medical humanities. As the study argues, the narratives demonstrate that one system of diagnosis and treatment is not enough and literature works to decolonize psychology.

The book, Plural Psychologies: Interrogating Mental Illness in Anglophone African Fiction (Narratives and Mental Health #5) [Bulk, Wholesale, Quantity] ISBN#9789004780934 in Hardcover by Christina Slopek-Hauff may be ordered in bulk quantities. Minimum starts at 25 copies. Availability based on publisher status and quantity being ordered.