The Hour of Birth

Psychoanalysis of the Sublime and Contemporary Art

Giuseppe Civitarese

$91.95 $77.89

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Routledge
20 October 2025

The Arts: General & Reference; Psychoanalytical theory (Freudian psychology); Psychotherapy; Creative therapy (eg art, music, drama)

Series: The New Library of Psychoanalysis

To explore the impact of psychoanalytic ideas and contemporary visual artists upon each other, this volume examines the aesthetics of the sublime as an allegory for psychic birth.

Through the lens of a radically intersubjective psychoanalytic theory, Civitarese reinvents the Freudian notion of sublimation. He theorises that the aesthetic of the sublime reflects the internal process of establishing a space of thought through the gradual differentiation of subject and object. Supported by numerous artworks by contemporary artists – from Serra to Kapoor, and Wei to Kiefer – the volume attends to questions such as: How does the psyche come into being? Why can beauty be considered necessary for life? How does what we experience as ""simply"" beautiful differ from the aesthetic experience of what is called ""sublime""? In this way, Civitarese forges a conceptual tool that enables readers to weave together psychoanalytic theory and aesthetics.

Drawing on a deep understanding of both the latest psychoanalytic thinking and artistic practices, this book will appeal to all psychoanalysts and psychotherapists interested in art and questions of psychic development.

By: Giuseppe Civitarese
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 830g
ISBN: 9781032765280
ISBN 10: 1032765283
Series: The New Library of Psychoanalysis
Pages: 116
Publication Date: 20 October 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

1. The Imminence of the Object 2. A Success Story 3. The Sublime Now 4. The Snake in the Maze 5. A Space Full of Darkness 6. The River-God of Blood 7. Savage Beauty 8. Heavenly Palaces 9. Can't Help Myself 10. Sublimation Reinvented 11. The Matter of Time 12. The Abject Body 13. Oh Life, Begun in a Bloody Flow

Giuseppe Civitarese, MD, PhD, is a psychiatrist and training and supervising analyst of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society (SPI), and a member of the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) and of the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA). He lives and is in private practice, in Pavia, Italy.