Reading List
Renata Salecl
Philosopher, Sociologist and Legal Theorist
Renata Salecl is a Slovene philosopher, sociologist and legal theorist who uses psychoanalysis to read modern life. She is a senior researcher at the Institute of Criminology at the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Law and a professor at Birkbeck, University of London. Her books include The Spoils of Freedom, written after the fall of socialism, (Per)versions of Love and Hate, On Anxiety and The Tyranny of Choice, which asks why endless choice leaves people anxious rather than free. Her work has been translated into fifteen languages.
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The New Black
by Darian Leader
“Darian Leader is a British psychoanalyst who in a great way undermines today’s ideas about depression. He starts with the premise that we live in a society of hyped optimism, where depression appears as a danger that goes against optimism – it’s something for people who gave up the fight for success or whatever.” — via Interview, October 2012
02
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Bodies
by Susie Orbach
“Susie Orbach is a so-called relational psychoanalyst, and she wrote this book, Bodies, where she looks at how the body is perceived in post-industrial, late capitalism. Again we have the idea of body as a product, something that you work on and that is completely in your power. Of course, the cosmetics and dieting industries have hugely contributed to this, so she makes a social critique, pointing out that in some way capitalism relies on our unhappiness with the body.” — via Interview, October 2012
03
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Breath
by Tim Winton
“What’s interesting are the descriptions of the surfing. It’s the most wonderful description of coming to the edge, searching for ever new extremes, coming to the point of death, and then at the last second avoiding it.” — via Interview, October 2012
04
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The Humbling
by Philip Roth
“So it’s about ageing and I think why it’s important is because we see the capacity to hold on longer. It is possible with the help of medicine to very much prolong life, but the tragedy is that desire remains: for satisfaction – especially sexual and creative satisfaction.” — via Interview, October 2012
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Cockroach
by Rawi Hage
“So it’s a very typical portrayal of the new types of immigrants who live absolutely on the edge of society. It’s gripping because it has a parallel story of the trauma that happened to the main character in his homeland.” — via Interview, October 2012
