On Death and the Continuity of Life: A Psychohistorical Perspective

Abstract

Unlimited technological violence and absurd death have replaced sexual repression as an urgent theme for contemporary man. Psychoanalytic theory, developed during the late Victorian era, must be re-evaluated within the context of current historical forces. In attempting to understand the impact of extreme violence and mass death, the writer finds it more useful to speak of a process of psychic numbing rather than repression. This numbing process involves an impairment of the symbolization or image-forming function. Illustrative material is drawn from the writer's previous study of Hiroshima survivors, and in observations made in clinical work. The goal is to evolve psychohistorical theory adequate to the dangerous times in which we live.