Masochism: A Jungian View

Combining precise clinical descriptions with a wealth of cultural and mythic evidence, this book offers a radically new theory of masochism. Lyn Cowan, a practicing Jungian analyst, regards masochism as a manifestation of the "religious instinct." In a clear and straightforward style, Cowan stresses the symptoms of masochism, which range from the kinkiest of sexual aberrations to the covert pleasure felt in the minor hurts and humiliations of ordinary life. The author reads these symptoms both as signs of an actual sickness and as stirrings of the collective psyche. Included is a thorough discussion of the clinical literature - Krafft-Ebing, Freud, etc. - as well as cultural case studies, the Flagellants of medieval times. Through Cowan's careful research, masochism emerges as a preparation for death, a strange necessity of the psyche that can lead the reader deeper into the pleasure and pain of his or her own wounds and vulnerabilities, there to discover the germ of genuine individuality.