Abjection and Abandonment Melancholy in Philosophy and Art

This book provides a thorough and insightful examination of melancholy in philosophy and art. Since the advent of “philosophy,” the question of melancholy has been intimately connected with creativity. In addition, melancholy has taken on a new importance in contemporary discourses. Accordingly, this book revisits the fascinating question of how melancholy and creativity are linked in light of contemporary thought, and gathers studies from diverse disciplines, such as aesthetic theories, psychoanalysis, cultural theory, medical studies and sociological studies. All the contributions are trans-disciplinary in nature and will broaden readers’ understanding of various issues stemming from the question of melancholy. This book will be an indispensable read for scholars, researchers and practitioners in psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy and related fields.

 Saitya Brata Das teaches philosophy and literature at the Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is former Post-Doc Fellow at UFR Philosophie, Universite de Strasbourg (France) and Fellow at Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (India). He is the author of The Political Theology of Schelling (Edinburgh University Press, 2016), And the World Should be Made a Desert (Aakar Books, 2016), The World to Come: Essays on Ethics and Politics (Aakar Books, 2015), Politics and Religion (Aakar Books, 2015).