The Elusive Self

The work of Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo, one of the most important writers of 20th-century Spain, has recently enjoyed a resurgence of interest within the English-speaking world. In contrast to previous studies of Unamuno's extensive literary corpus, which consider his work primarily from the philosophical points of view, Jurkevich challenges the hagiology which has traditionally dominated Unamuno scholarship with extensive psychoanalytic examination of the writer's life and work.

A Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist who is an AMHCA Diplomate with expertise in the treatment of Trauma and Addictions brings a background in philosophy, theology and psychology to his reflections on spiritual perspectives related to the human experience of the Elusive SELF at the center of human multiplicity manifesting in, by, and through Psyche and Soma. He refers to James, Freud, Jung, Spinoza, Lear, Mystical Judaism, Affect Regulation Theory, literature, alchemy, Somatic Psychotherapy, and other sources to grapple with the concept and the central role of the SELF in IFS therapy. The author invites a conversation with a practical spirituality that promotes a SELF-led healing engagement for the life of the individual, the community and the the world at this liminal historical moment.

The complex novels by Virginia Woolf are seen with clarity and coherence in "The Elusive Self," a thorough and detailed literary interpretation by Louise A. Poresky. The result is a reliable map that guides the reader through the nine novels. Adding the wisdom of religion and psychology to her literary criticism, Dr. Poresky demonstrates how Woolf's characters strive to achieve personal wholeness. The quest progresses sequentially through the novels as a major character in each work struggles against certain demons, whether the superficial dictates of society or the voices that say women cannot be artists, and thus realizes the difference between ego and essence.

First published in 1969, The Elusive Mind argues that the mental processes are of a quite different nature from physical ones and belong to an entity which is elusive in the sense that it can only be known, in the first instance, by each person in his own case in the course of having any kind of experience. This ‘elusive’ self is much involved with the body in any conditions we know, but it could also survive the dissolution of the body. The views of thinkers like Ryle, Hampshire, Malcolm, Feigl, and Ayer are subjected to an exceptionally close and critical scrutiny. In presenting these views, the author offers us the substance of the first series of Gifford Lectures he delivered in the University of Edinburgh; and, in what he says on such topics as dreaming; mysticism; and the ‘I-Thou’ relation and on Christian Theology. This book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of philosophy, philosophy of mind, ethics, and religion.

Today, globalization, migration and political polarization complicate the individual’s search for a cohesive identity, making identity formation and transformation key issues in everyday life. This collection of essays highlights a number of the dimensions of identity, including cultural hybridity, religion, ethnicity, profession, gender, sexuality, and childhood, and explores how they are thematized in different narratives. The stories discussed are set in Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, France, Germany, Great Britain, Haiti, India, Israel, Japan, Polynesia, Norway, Romania, Spain and South Africa, emphasizing today’s international focus on identity. The majority of the contributions here focus on literary texts, while others investigate identity formations in interviews, language corpora, student reading logs, film, theatre and pathographies.

Hailed for its searing emotional insights, and for the astonishing originality with which it weaves together personal history, cultural essay, and readings of classical texts by Sophocles, Ovid, Euripides, and Sappho, The Elusive Embrace is a profound exploration of the mysteries of identity. It is also a meditation in which the author uses his own divided life to investigate the "rich conflictedness of things," the double lives all of us lead. Daniel Mendelsohn recalls the deceptively quiet suburb where he grew up, torn between his mathematician father's pursuit of scientific truth and the exquisite lies spun by his Orthodox Jewish grandfather; the streets of manhattan's newest "gay ghetto," where "desire for love" competes with "love of desire;" and the quiet moonlit house where a close friend's small son teaches him the meaning of fatherhood. And, finally, in a neglected Jewish cemetery, the author uncovers a family secret that reveals the universal need for storytelling, for inventing myths of the self. The book that Hilton Als calls "equal to Whitman's 'Song of Myself,'" The Elusive Embrace marks a dazzling literary debut.