The Inner World: A Psycho-analytical Study Of Hindu Childhood And Society (oxford India Collection)

Feelings, impulses, wishes, and fantasties -- the dynamic content of the inner world -- occupy the deepest recesses of the psyche. It is through introspection and empathy, essential to psychotherapy, that the outside observer can grasp the meaning of the inner world of an individual.
This thought-provoking book examines the network of social roles, traditional values, customs, and kinship rules with which the threads of Indian psychological development are interwoven. In doing so, it reveals important aspects of Indian society, myth, rituals, fables, and arts. It looks at Hindu infancy and childhood in order to show how these are shaped within a specific cultural context.
Hailed by critics from all over the world as the best application of psychoanalysis to Indian culture, the third edition of The Inner World includes a new Afterword by the author, and will equally appeal to scholars of social psychology, cultural studies, and sociology, as well as general readers interested in psychology.