Television and Psychoanalysis: Psycho-Cultural Perspectives (The Psychoanalysis and Popular Culture Series)

'Given that television has arguably been the most powerful medium in much of the world for up to half a century, a book approaching it through psychoanalysis is considerably overdue. And now digitisation and the internet have made the idea of "television" much more complicated and pervasive, our need to understand its deeper influences on our minds, and how we relate to it, is yet more important. This collection of essays draws on key ideas from modern psychoanalysis while retaining, in its rich psychosocial approach, a strong appreciation of the socio-cultural contexts in which television has taken the shapes it has.'- Barry Richards, Professor of Public Communication, The Media School, Bournemouth University'Combining cultural theory and television studies with clinical encounters and object-relations, Television and Psychoanalysis is as erudite and switched-on as it is eclectic. Ranging from the London Olympics 2012 Opening Ceremony through to The Sopranos, and even Play School, the essays gathered together here challenge us to re-think the "boob tube" via a welcome array of shows. TV has long deserved serious psycho-cultural understanding, and this book marks a vital transition by creatively bridging the small screen and key psychoanalytic ideas.'- Matt Hills, Professor of Film and TV Studies at Aberystwyth University