Description: This innovative, interdisciplinary study offers the first comprehensive examination of the psychodynamic theories of artistic creativity and the arts. Neither oversimplifying the complexity of these theories, nor bogging down in pedantic discourse, it honors the depth and richness of the work of Freud, Adler, Kris, Reich, Jung, and several lesser-known theorists, while making their theories readily accessible to the educated reader. After presenting the nature and the role of theory, the work offers each concept as a readily usable template for describing and understanding a work of art, whether painting, sculpture, music, dance, film, poetry, or prose. With these theories at hand, anyone interested in the arts will possess a far richer vocabulary for describing the artistic experience and a deeper understanding of the artist's creativity.
Brief description: Edward W.L. Smith has published nine nonfiction books, more than 50 essays, a memoir, magazine articles, short stories, and a good bit of poetry. He is an emeritus professor of psychology, Georgia Southern University, and lives in Statesboro, Georgia.
Review Quotes: "offers a comprehensive psychodynamic analysis of art and the artist as interpreted by the great minds of psychotherapy"-Reference & Research Book News.