Figures of Lightness

Résumé du livre

What desires and fears do the anorectic or bulimic seek to avoid through his or her obsessive behavior? Figures of Lightness explores the psychoanalytic treatment of eating disorders using the theories of Freud and Lacan to construct a description of anorexia and bulimia which is based on an awareness of unconscious psychological processes. Gabriella Ripa di Meana proposes an investigative method involving structural linguistics, hermeneutics and formal logic. She analyses the anorectic's and bulimic's sense of identity in Freudian terminology, and examines the combinations of subjection and independence within the family and within modern society. Arguing that our present classifications of eating disorders are too crude, she defines different forms of anorexia and bulimia. She also uses famous works of art and literature to enrich the conclusions she draws from clinical studies and further the understanding these disorders.