Plural Psychologies: Interrogating Mental Illness in Anglophone African Fiction (Narratives and Mental Health #5) [9789004780934]

Overview

Based in the field of postcolonial medical humanities, this study explores the role that Anglophone African literatures play in conversations about mental illness: What is a mental illness, and who gets to define this? 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. Instead, they are embedded in Igbo cosmology, and the novel plays with readers' possible expectations of psychological fiction. Together, the narratives construct and verbalize a plurality of psychologies, showing that one system of diagnosis and treatment is not enough, and that 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.